The Two Dragons of Destruction
by Daisythebird
Summary: Before their last trip to Egypt, Yami and Yugi decide to open one last card packet together. Suddenly, Yugi is teleported away to the duel monster world where he has to face a new threat against Dark Magician Girl and her people. This leaves Yami alone in the body, right as Yugi's distant father comes home. How will each fare in a situation where the other would've been stronger?
1. Prismatic Card

**Author's note: This takes the English dub (meaning Domino city is in America) and Season Zero into account, along with GX's ideas on duel spirits. These duel spirits will look and have the abilities they have in 2019, such as Silent Magician being white and blue or Gandora only being destroyed at the end of the turn. I will try to release chapters every other Friday. ****I still read and love every comment/review given, even if I don't answer. ****Thank you for stopping by! **

In two weeks, it would all be over. There was no Dartz to stop them this time, no tournament, no crazy historical figures, they would finally have all the pieces to get the Pharaoh's memories back. Then… Yugi didn't know what would happen next. He had a good idea, but he tried not to linger on that thought for too long. Besides, that was two weeks away. Yugi had other things to worry about before that fateful trip to Egypt.

Yugi and the Pharaoh were strolling through Domino city on a sunny day. Summer vacation had been going on for a while and the two enjoyed walking (the Pharaoh more floating) in the cooler mornings to talk. Yugi had gotten good at hiding the fact he was conversing with thin air. In the city streets, he could hide his conversations better than at home.

"It's truly been over a year since you've seen your father in person?" The Pharaoh asked.

"It was only for one day last year. The year before that it was three days. This time he is actually going to be here for an entire week!" Yugi grinned. The Pharaoh's face remained its usual unreadable expression. "What is it Pharaoh?" Yugi asked, stopping near a crossing walk.

"It's nothing. I was just figuring out how long I will have to stay hidden in the Millennium Puzzle this time." The Pharaoh said. Yugi knew he was lying but didn't feel like pushing it.

"You don't have to stay hidden at all! I wouldn't mind you meeting my dad this time. I know the most you've heard of him was through his weekly phone calls, but he really is a nice guy."

"I don't think that's the best idea Yugi. Not even your mother or grandpa know about me. The last time we tried to bring it up to your mother almost hospitalized you. Besides, it would be a big shock for them to suddenly learn about my presence, only for me to then head to Egypt in a few days." The Pharaoh said.

Yugi sighed. "I suppose you're right. Maybe you can pretend to be me for a bit? Just so you can stretch your legs?"

This made the Pharaoh laugh. "Yugi… That's a kind gesture, but can you see me pretending to be you? I know I did it when we first met, but that was always with people that didn't know you. How would we even begin to explain the height and voice difference?" The idea of the Pharaoh trying to make his voice higher made Yugi giggle too, making some passersby glance worriedly at him.

"Ok, maybe you're right. I just don't like the idea of you being suck in the puzzle for an entire week." Yugi whispered after making sure he was far away from the concerned looks.

Yugi remembered near the beginning when he wasn't so good at hiding their little talks. During a shopping trip after Duelist Kingdom, the two were arguing whether a person could wear too many chains. In their heated discussion, the two hadn't noticed that the clerk had called the police on them. Now with a few years of practice, these walks were often the best time for the two to talk.

"It's fine Yugi. I just want you to enjoy the rare days you get with your father. Do not worry about me." the Pharaoh smiled. Yugi nodded but he couldn't let the feeling go. While he rarely had time with his father, he was also running out of time with his best friend.

"Hey look! The next series of Duel Monster cards have been released in this shop too!" Yugi excitedly shouted. He ran up to the small game shop's window and pressed his nose up to the glass. The Pharaoh chuckled. No matter how much Yugi seemed to grow, his childlike innocent never disappeared.

"We should get a packet." The Pharaoh said.

"Good idea. Who knows? Maybe we'll get another team member." Yugi said as he walked into the shop. "Which one's calling to you?" he asked as he looked over the shiny foil packets.

"Hmm, how about that one?" The Pharaoh pointed to a packet in the middle with a white and blue mage on it.

"I like this one too. Let's get it."

Soon enough Yugi was out the door with his new purchase. "Let's see, what's in here?" Yugi said as he found a bench to sit on and took out the packet. He reached up to the packet's edge but stopped.

"Something wrong?" The Pharaoh asked.

"It's just that, this might be the last cards we open together…" Yugi said.

The Pharaoh hadn't thought of it like that. Packet opening had been one of the earliest ways the two of them bonded. Back when both were too nervous of the other to talk, it had been the catalyst for many first conversations.

"We have to make this special." Yugi decided. He stood up and walked back to his grandpa's shop.

…

"Welcome back Yugi! Your father's not here from the airport yet, but I think it'll be any minute now." Grandpa said as Yugi came into the house portion of the shop's building.

"Thanks Grandpa, I'll just be up in my room if you need me." Yugi smiled.

"Understood. Hey, I'm going to that new duel monsters exhibit at the museum after we have lunch. Do you want to come with me, we can bring along Junior?"

"Thanks, but Dad and I have plans already." Yugi smile. He then went upstairs while quietly chatting away with thin air.

Solomon was used to Yugi talking to nothing. His grandson always tried to hide it when he or his daughter-in-law was around, but after four years the boy slipped up enough to make both raise their eyebrows. Solomon knew the conversations started about seven months after Yugi solved that puzzle he had gifted the boy. Even before that point, during those seven months, Yugi had acted strangely. He was always sneaking out and coming back smelling of chloroform or smoke. Then after those seven months, the Death-T games, his coma, and Duelist Kingdom happened. Those events would have scarred any other kid, but Yugi came out stronger. The only thing off was his need to talk to nothing or, more specifically, to talk to that golden puzzle.

Solomon shook his head. Yugi's mother had tried to hospitalize her son, but he had stopped her. He thought that intense therapy might hurt more than help in this situation. However, it still weirded him out, especially when he swore he heard someone reply to Yugi.

"What have I given to you?" Grandpa thought to himself as he returned to sweeping.

…

"Ok, we ready to do this?" Yugi asked. The Pharaoh nodded. Yugi was sitting on the rug in the middle of his room. He and the Pharaoh were going to do this together. Yugi pulled the packet open then the Pharaoh took over. He pulled out the first card.

"Huh, Wishing Well. A good trap card. Your turn, partner." Then Yugi jumped into the body and pulled out the next card.

"Oh! It's one of those new level monsters. The Silent Swordsman. I like its design." Yugi said as he studied the card.

The Pharaoh looked over Yugi's shoulder at the small sword wielder. While the swordsman's card sparkled, there wasn't a spark of a duel spirit. This made both Yugi and the Pharaoh a little disappointed, but duel spirits were rare.

The card spirits only recently started coming regularly to this dimension from their homeworld, Dartz's fall being the main catalyze for the spirit immigration. Before the card game was invented, duel monster spirits used to have to come through random portals in the world. The biggest being in Atlantis, Egypt, and Domino City. Even then they couldn't stay in this world long because of how much energy it took to get back home plus the energy it took to remain in the human world. Now thanks to energy free portals that came from their specific card and fear of being absorbed by the Lethiaven gone, duel spirits often loved to vacation with human, especially if their card holder was a duelist. Less than one percent of the human population could see these spirits without KaibaCorp's holograms. Yugi and the Pharaoh were the only ones out of their friend group that could see them. That just meant they wanted to meet more spirits.

"By the looks of it, that swordsman will be hard to use unless you have his other cards. He'll make for interesting strategies." The Pharaoh smiled as he took over. He then pulled out the next card.

"Silent Magician. She's a new one." The Pharaoh said. Yugi nearly pushed the Pharaoh out of the body to see closer. "Patience! Give me a chance to look at the card."

"Sorry it's just… Now I have my own magician card too."

"What do you mean? You are still the actual owner of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl." The Pharaoh pointed out.

Yugi's spirit form sat back with a huff. "They're not really my cards. I may have bought them, but they're definitely yours. You guys have a connection I can't even begin to understand." Yugi sighed. "Everyone seems to have a card like that. Seto's got his Blue-Eyes, you and Dark Magician, even Joey has his Red-Eyes. Maybe when they release another eyed dragon I'll finally find one that clicks with me."

"An eyed dragon? Really? I don't see something like that with your personality." Pharaoh said.

"Huh? Do you think? Well, if we're going off personality then I guess I'm destined for Marshmallon. I can see the connection even now." Yugi said as he spread his arms out dramatically.

The Pharaoh chuckled. "Don't worry Yugi. I'm sure you'll find a card partner that will shadow everyone else's. You still want your turn?"

"Absolutely! Get out of that body!" The Pharaoh continued to chuckle as Yugi (maybe a little too enthusiastically) pushed him out. Yugi then pulled out the next card. "Wow, is this a holographic card? It's sure shiny. I can't even see what's on it." Yugi said. The card seemed to glow with a faint red light. Yugi then flipped the card around, he found the back to be sparkling too. As he flipped the card to the front again, it began shining with increasing intensity.

"Yugi…" The Pharaoh warned. Yugi couldn't help but stare at the card. It continued to get unnaturally brighter. The Pharaoh immediately went into action and pushed Yugi's spirit out of the body, right when the card's glow reached its peak. Its light enveloped them both.

The Pharaoh suddenly felt…different. All the weightlessness of being a spirit disappeared. It didn't feel uncomfortable. Just like if he was wearing a heavy winter coat, over his entire body. The Pharaoh then looked down at his hands. The card was gone.

"Yugi?" No response. The Pharaoh opened and closed his fingers to make sure he was in control. He felt no fight from his partner. In fact, he felt nothing.

"Ok Yugi, jokes over." No response, no anything. The Pharaoh's breathing started to speed up. He looked wildly around the room. No Yugi. The Pharaoh then pulled into his mind. He came racing out of his soul room, ignoring the winding passages and throwing open his door. He froze when he saw what was in front of his room. There was nothing, just blackness.

The Pharaoh fell to his knees. There had only been one other time of something like this happened. He clutched the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. He couldn't go back. Not to the time with the Seal of Orichalcos, not to that time of loneliness.

The Pharaoh suddenly felt a presence shaking him. He reluctantly took control of the body again. He slowly opened his eyes and groaned.

"I know that rug is comfortable but I wouldn't take a nap on it." The voice snapped the Pharaoh awake. He looked up into the crimson eyes of Solomon Jr.

"You ok there, Champ?" The man asked. The Pharaoh immediately pulled away from the man, only stopping when he had his back to the wall. "Whoa, I forgot how easily you scare. Sorry there, it's just dad. You're completely safe."


	2. The Dominion of the Beasts

When Yugi awoke he was in a much darker space than his room. He groaned as he tried to sit up. As he lifted his head, he immediately hit it on something hard. The sound the surface made was wooden like he had just knocked his head against a door.

"Ow." Yugi groaned. He tried to reach up to rub his head but found there wasn't enough space to bend his arms. He seemed to be in a dark tube only big enough for his body. "Oh no." Yugi sighed. 'Not now, not some other magical event. We just got out of the last one in India!' he thought.

With a frustrated sigh, Yugi let his head fall back to the ground, which was equally as hard as the black ceiling. As he lay, he attempted to look down but found nothing but more blackness. Then he tried tilting his head up so he could see what was behind him. There he could see a bright light streaming in from a large hole. With not much else to do, he started slowly worming his way towards the exit. It was awkward since he couldn't even bend his knees, but with determination and a few choice words he was glad his family wasn't around to hear, Yugi pushed his head out into the light.

Above him were towering trees. The tree's bark was stark white and their leaves a vibrant green with the sun's rays dancing through them. The air was much cooler than the summer air of Domino city, it was just comfortable enough with the wind ever so slightly blowing past. The birds were chirping, the leaves made their relaxing rattle. It was all the perfect picture, a little too perfect.

Something in Yugi's brain sounded an alarm. It was like looking at one of Kaiba's unfinished holograms. It seemed real enough until he studied it closely. A shiver went up his spine as he continued to work at getting his body out of his prison. As he got his upper half free, he sat up to see he had been teleported into a hollow log. With how pristine everything was he almost expected the log to be moss-covered with little mushrooms growing out of it, like in fairy tale books. However, as he studied his entrapment, he saw deep black scars running throughout the wood. As he looked at the rest of his surroundings there were more marks that stretched into the grass and led to ripped apart stumps. It wasn't a normal creature that had torn the wood apart, it was like someone had set off a bomb.

"Where am I?" Yugi asked as he freed the rest of his body and tried to stand. Right as he found his feet the ground began to shake. Yugi has been in an earthquake before, but this was much different. He looked to his side to see the all so flawless trees fall left and right as a hoard of monsters came charging towards him. Yugi found himself frozen, those weren't just animals, they were duel monsters. Not even the translucent spirits he knew, they were full-bodied creatures and he was smack dab in their path.

Yugi managed to take one tentative step backward before turning on his heels and running. Right then Yugi regretted every gym class he had spent sitting on the bench instead of getting in the game. Sure, his classmates were a whole lot taller than him and a great deal more aggressive, but at least getting beat up in those school-approved activities would have prepared him better for failing to outrun a stampede. It was a perfect little tree root connected to a perfectly ancient tree placed perfectly in his path that led Yugi to kiss the ground. He knew he couldn't get up in time so he frantically looked around for a place to hide. By him was the old tree with tall and thick roots sticking out of the ground. He quickly crawled to a particularly large root and covered the back of his head with his hands, just as he had been taught by his dad. He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

Soon hundreds of feet and paws were racing past him, utterly oblivious to his huddled form. Yugi was planning on remaining hidden when he heard metal clanging. He opened one eye to see the Millennium Puzzle, chain and all, precariously hanging from another root. He hadn't even realized he still had the puzzle, much less that it had slipped off when he fell. He knew he couldn't leave it in the path of the stampede. He looked out to see when somewhat of a break in the monsters would come. He then moved to a crouching position and leaped for the puzzle. His hands gripped its familiar edges and he pulled it close to his chest. While he was happy to have the puzzle back, there was something off with it. The puzzle now felt like it was made out of quartz instead of metal. It still had its trademarked shine, but it had lost its strength, it felt like it would shatter at any moment. What frightening Yugi most of all, however, was that there was no presence of the Pharaoh. The puzzle felt empty.

Right then, Yugi was run right into by a small, blue and white mage. Even though the mage was half his size, she was in such a rush she bowled straight into his gut. She sent him flying into the root the puzzle had been dangling on. When she got back to her feet it looked like she was going to keep running, but then her eyes rested on the puzzle in Yugi's hands.

"What's going on?!" Yugi yelled over the rush. The mage didn't speak, only keeping her eyes on the golden gleam. As she stared Yugi found himself doing the same. He recognized her from the card the Pharaoh had pulled earlier that day, though that picture had the mage being a full-grown woman. This mage was more of a shrimp than he was.

They both paused for a moment, just enough time for a stream of red light to blast overhead. The scorching beam barely missed and instead annihilated the ancient tree beside them. It didn't just destroy the tree, it made the tree completely explode in a shower of wood chips and falling branches. Both Yugi and the mage were blown away. As Yugi fell, he didn't put out his hands, needing to keep them on the puzzle. He hit his head with a resounding crack on another downed tree.

When Yugi opened his eyes, the world was painfully spinning, but the stampede was over. He tried to get up but found that made him nausea. As he lay, he felt the ground start quaking again. It wasn't a constant shake, this was intermittent steps. In the side of his blurry vision, he saw a black clawed foot about as large as his own body step into view. Yugi knew he had to move but couldn't get himself to do so. Right as the foot turned towards him, Yugi suddenly felt very light. He slowly blinked as the ground drifted away from him, or to be more accurate, he drifted away from the ground. He turned to see he was being levitated by the white and blue mage.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Yugi asked woozily. The fog in his brain quickly disappeared though as another red beam blasted by him and destroyed another perfect patch of trees. The heat alone from the attack caused his hair to singe. At that point, Yugi no longer cared where he was being taken. In fact, he cheered for the little mage to go faster.

As the mage ran away, Yugi tried to get a good look at what was attacking. The most his still ringing head could make out was a black figure about as tall as the trees. Soon enough though, the devastation grew smaller in the distance and the figure seemed happy to remain and destroy the all so faultless woodland.

As the mage took a sudden right turn, Yugi looked out to see a massive white castle surrounded by more picturesque forest. A location he remembered well.

"Wait, this was where Dark Magician Girl summon the Pharaoh and me when we needed to wake Timaeus!" Yugi gasped. The mage looked back at him with a half-smile and continued running. She went right through the throng of monsters trying to get into the castle's one open drawbridge. Inside, she tried to fight past the crowd of monsters but she was just too short, so with a sigh, she threw Yugi into the main hall. With the levitation gone and still being hurt, Yugi went sliding along the marble floor without a fight. He clutched the Millennium Puzzle to his chest and never let go. Finally, he slowed down and gently bumped into a pair of blue boots.

"Master?!" A feminine voice yelped. Yugi recognized that too and slowly looked up into the green eyes of Dark Magician Girl.

"Hey… long time… no see." Yugi collapsed again on the ground as his headache was becoming skull-splitting.

"He's hurt! Stop working on me Mystical Elf and help him!"

Yugi felt his body become light again, but this time he didn't lift off the ground. Instead, his headache slowly ebbed away. When he finally felt well enough to look up, he met the closed eyes of Mystical Elf. The womanly monster smiled and bowed. She floated back as to allow Dark Magician Girl to come forward.

"Let me help you up." Dark Magician Girl grinned as she put out her left hand to help him to his feet, hiding her right arm behind her back.

"Thanks." Yugi breathed. When he was up, he rubbed his head and found it to be completely healed. He then looked down at the Millennium Puzzle still tightly clutched. Immediately, he slipped the chain loop over his head and let the puzzle rest on his belly. Even without its usual power it still felt relaxing to have in its place. For a moment Yugi's gaze stayed on the eye of the puzzle. The lack of a presence behind the eye made Yugi's sour fears bubble back up his throat.

"Where is the Pharaoh? Where am I? How did I get here?" Yugi rattled off in one breath. Dark Magician Girl bit her lip and turned away from him. She then looked out at the mass of monsters trying to get in to talk to her.

"Silent, do you mind coming forward?" She called into the crowd. The duel monsters' gazes shifted between each other, no one moving. Eventually, the small mage was able to fight to the front of the crowd. She wildly waved to Dark Magician Girl before she was swallowed again by the large mob. Dark Magician Girl floated over and gingerly picked up the small mage with one hand, the little girl blushing at being carried like that by her leader.

"Silent Magician, I saw you levitate him in from my window. I would have helped sooner if I could have believed my own eyes. I need you to start from the beginning if you please. Where did you find Yugi?" Dark Magician Girl asked. The little mage started flailing around like crazy, pointing at everything from Yugi, to the puzzle, to even herself. All without words. While this only made Yugi more confused, Dark Magician Girl nodded every other action.

"So…?" Yugi asked.

"Ok, so right now you are in the Duel Monsters dimension, also called the Spirit World. This world is broken up into different realms and right now you are specifically in the Dominion of the Beasts. You remember being here before, right? When you had to wake the dragon? Or did we not heal your head all the way?" Dark Magician Girl asked as she led Yugi's gaze to the pedestals the crystalized dragons once stood.

"No, I remember that. It's just…Let's start with one question at a time. How am I here?" Yugi asked. Silent Magician started waving wildly around again and Dark Magician Girl once again nodded to her.

"You understand what she is saying?" Yugi asked, not recognizing what the mage was doing as any form of sign language.

"No clue, I thought you knew and I was just going along with it." Dark Magician Girl chuckled while rubbing the back of her head. Silent Magician stomped her foot as her pale face turned a bright red. She then ran to the large space the dragons used to stand. She pointed at the space, then Yugi.

"I think I can translate that. You see, the Legendary Knights, once you returned them to their regular forms, work as the gatekeepers of the Spirit World. They keep evil monsters from just waltzing into your world and are supposed to help keep the different parts to the Spirit World safe."

"Suppose to?" Yugi asked, knowing that wording didn't lead to easy solutions.

Dark Magician Girl sadly nodded. "As of late an army of dragons have started taking over the Dominion of the Beasts. This land is for baby monsters and weaker cards. It's supposed to be a safe zone from the fighting going on in the other lands. We even have a barrier around this land so nothing above 1500 ATK can get in without permission. Yet, if these dragons can just come in and start tearing things up…" Dark Magician Girl's gaze went to the hoard of monsters around them. Yugi followed her gaze and saw the mob for what it was. A group of frightened creatures trying to find safety.

"Have you heard from the Knights at all?" Yugi asked. Dark Magician Girl shook her head.

"They don't have just one place they reside. I've sent messengers to them but it might be a while before we hear anything, if they are even still around." Dark Magician Girl sighed.

"Missing knights and an incoming evil, sounds a little too familiar," Yugi said as he let his hand rest on the puzzle, still feeling nothing from it. Dark Magician Girl turned back to him with a sympathetic expression.

"Please believe me when I say I did not summon you here. I don't know what did. I know I begged for your help only a little while ago, but that was different. I would never forcefully pull you here, especially if it required separating you from the Pharaoh." She said. Hearing this made Yugi's face go pale.

"Se-separate?" He stuttered, grasping the puzzle's chains.

"I can tell by your puzzle." She said as she pointed to the yellow pyramid. "All duel monsters know of the Millennium Puzzle and what it holds. We've been preparing for the Pharaoh to reappear for eons now. He was the one that reopened the portal to the human world after Atlantis's fall, and the one that allowed us to freely travel between worlds thanks to defeating the Leviathan. However, I know specifically what the puzzle is supposed to look like, and that does not look right."

Yugi grasped the puzzle. At a glance, it looked fine, but just like the perfect forest outside when studied it looked and felt like a knock off.

"How?" Yugi asked.

"I'm guessing its power is split between you two." Dark Magician Girl said.

"Well, do you know where he is now?" Yugi asked, panic edging his voice. Dark Magician Girl looked to Silent Magician and they both shrugged.

"Most likely back in your home dimension. I'd send you back now if I had to power." Dark Magician Girl explained. It was then Yugi noticed that Dark Magician Girl's scepter was almost broken in half, only being barely held together with magic vines. He then saw the fresh burns and bandages traveling up her right side. He made eye contact with her and she looked away, pulling her pink shoulder ribbon down in a vain attempt to hide the painful wounds.

Yugi then let his own eyes fall to the floor.

'There has to be a mistake. Whatever brought me here must have been trying to get the Pharaoh. I am not the type for this solo world-saving. I am not the kind of strong or brave that the Pharaoh is. What am I going to do? I'm not the hero these creatures need.' Yugi thought. He then looked back up at the scared monsters. They seemed completely hopeless, even Silent Magician was losing her bluster and was succumbing to the gloom the duel monster mob seemed to radiate.

Yugi straightened his back and hid any fears he had. "Well, I'm here now and you guys need help. I can focus on getting home later. I swear to help you figure out this dragon problem." Yugi announced.

"Oh, thank you, Yugi! You don't know what kind of weight that takes off me." Dark Magician Girl squealed as she grabbed Yugi's hands and jumped up and down. She moved too fast however and yelped, grabbing her burnt side with a grimace.

"Be careful, we don't want you injured more," Yugi said as he looked around for Mystical Elf. The elf somehow knew Yugi's thoughts and came forward. She made Dark Magician Girl sit and started healing her again.

"Nasty isn't it? It was a gift from one of those dragons." Dark Magician Girl said with all the venom her voice could muster.

"Where did these dragons come from and why are they here?" Yugi asked.

"Most likely from the Crags, there is a big war between Warrior and Dragon monsters going on over there. The dragons here aren't just random monsters, however. These are all from the same archetype, a race I thought died out long ago. They appear out of nowhere and crush everything in their path. Devastation is what they live for."

"Who are they?" Yugi asked.

"They are Gandora, the Dragons of Destruction."


	3. Junior

"I just don't get it Téa! Can't we just accept dat and move on?" Joey groaned as he slammed his head into the open textbook in front of him.

"No, I can't. You'll need this next year if you want to graduate." Téa sighed. Joey didn't lift his head and instead murmured something into the pages. Téa was fairly sure she didn't want to know what he said and shook her head. She got up and started pulling out another book from her large pile.

"Fine then, we'll leave math for a while and instead focus on English." She said, accompanied by another long groan from Joey. "Come on Joey, you want to show your dad that you're serious about graduating high school, right?"

This made Joey sit straight up. Over the last year, his constantly drunk dad had been trying to get him to drop out so he could start working full time. His dad had pointed out that all of Joey's old gang buddies and most of his family members had dropped out. He had talked (more yelled) like it was the expected route for a Wheeler.

"Ok! Let's do dis." Joey whooped as he pushed the math book off the table and pulled out his English work. Before he began, he looked back up at his brown-haired friend. "Look, I know I can be a pain sometimes, so let me say it again. Thank you Téa. For tutorin' me dis summer."

"It's no problem, Joey. I-" Just then Téa's cellphone rang.

"Ooo, Teach's phone went off. Add a quarter to the phone jar." Joey laughed as he grabbed a small glass jar half full of coins from a neighboring counter. Most of the coins being his.

"Hey, even I forget to turn this off sometimes." Téa laughed as she dropped a quarter in and flipped open the phone. "It's Yugi's house number. He's probably just asking to go to the arcade or something." She said. She then looked up at Joey's hopeful face. "We have to focus on this now. We can call him back later." She said as she put her phone to the side. When Téa's phone stopped, immediately Joey's started ringing.

"Whoops." Joey chuckled. He put his money in the jar and put his phone to the side too, deciding to ignore that it was Yugi's number again. As soon as his stopped ringing, Téa's phone started vibrating.

"Is it still Yugi?" Joey asked. Téa chose to forget her studying rule and looked at the phone.

"Yes, this might be important," Téa said as she answered the call and put it on speakerphone.

"Hey, Yugi!" The two said.

"Guys?!" The deep voice made both Téa and Joey glance worriedly at each other.

"Pharaoh?" Joey asked.

"Good, I got both of you. Something has-" The Pharaoh said before he was cut off by an unintelligible woman's voice in the background.

Hearing the Pharaoh made the two in Téa's house furrow their brows. The Pharaoh usually hated working with phones, he left that to Yugi as often as he could.

"Ok, I'll be down soon." The two heard the Pharaoh yell away from the phone in an uncomfortably high voice. He then spoke into the speaker in his normal voice. "Yugi's gone!" The Pharaoh whispered, barely stopping himself from yelling the words.

"What do you mean?!" Joey had no problem shouting his response.

"As in he, is, gone. There was a glowing card and...he...he disappeared. His soul's not here and I can't find any trace of him or the card."

"Yugi Yahtzee Muto, get down for lunch now! Your father just came back, this is not the time to be chatting with friends!" This time the woman's voice could be easily heard over the phone.

"Oh Ra, Yugi's dad came home today." Téa gasped.

"Yes, and I'm going to be surrounded by people that will see a difference between Yugi and me." The Pharaoh said, giving up on sounding anywhere near calm.

"Uh, keep your voice high and don't talk for as long as you can. When lunch's over say you forgot somethin' at Téa's house. We'll figure out something' den." Joey quickly suggested. The Pharaoh was about to say more when the burgundy-haired woman that was Yugi's mother came up and slammed the phone down on the receiver.

…

"You're usually better than this Yugi. We are having a family meal and last time I checked, you are part of the family." Yui Muto said as she turned to her perceived son and pushed a finger into his chest. The Pharaoh knew Yugi's mother was usually calmer than this, but every time her husband came home she would always become a little unhinged. The Pharaoh nodded to her and said a quick apology under his breath.

Yui sighed. "I know you're nervous, but it's just your dad. Don't worry, you can introduce him to your friends during this visit. You'll have time. Can you believe he's going to be here for an entire week-?" She smiled before she fell into one of her common, yet violent coughing fits.

The Pharaoh had been around enough to know that Yugi's mother had always been sick like this. Something about her body attacking itself, maybe. Even modern doctors weren't very sure. Yugi had tried to explain what they did know to the Pharaoh once before. That conversation wasn't very long as it involved too many modern terms and ideas for the Pharaoh to follow. What he did know was that these coughing fits were a constant thing for Yugi's mother and sometimes she would faint or have something called a seizure after them. The Pharaoh was prepared to catch the woman if she did faint after her fit, but Yui put her hand out.

"I'm fine. Let's not keep the others waiting." She smiled after taking in a deep breath. She then led the Pharaoh downstairs.

In the small kitchen was Grandpa with his son around the small family table. Solomon Jr. just got done talking about his new position at Fort Farkle when the Pharaoh and Yui walked in. Both men looked up from their conversation and smiled. Grandpa's eyes had a light in them that the Pharaoh hadn't seen in a while, he looked years younger. This broke through the Pharaoh's wall of gloom enough for the teen to give a small smile, then he turned to Junior.

Solomon Jr. was the tallest of any blood Muto, making him just an inch shorter than the average height. He had cut his multicolored hair down and instead kept it short enough so only the black hair would grow through. He had red colored eyes instead of Yugi's magenta, but the two did share similar facial features. The only big difference there was that the father's features were not as rounded as Yugi's, they were sharp, almost jagged. There was also a group of large scars that cut across the left side of his face and even went through his left eye, though he seemed able to see just fine through that eye. Even in summer, Junior wore long-sleeves and jeans. While the Pharaoh found this a little strange, he couldn't focus on it long, because as he sat down the man himself turned to him.

"There's the sleepy-head. Everything good with your friends?" He asked. The Pharaoh nodded wordlessly as Grandpa put a plate of food in front of him.

Eating was the last thing the Pharaoh wanted to do at the moment, but to cover for his lack of conversation skills he dug into the food. He made sure to always have a large bite of food when it looked like someone was about to talk to him, all so he could answer with noncommittal shrugs and nods. Thankfully, as soon as Yui sat down her husband started chatting with her. The two went on for a good hour, with Grandpa only getting in a word or two. The entire time the Pharaoh barely listened. His thoughts were on his missing partner. As he ate, he couldn't help but look at the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. The puzzle somehow seemed duller. Along with the Pharaoh not being able to sense Yugi in it, it had lost all its golden shine. The Pharaoh frowned, he slowly reached down and grasped the puzzle. It even felt different. The puzzle lost all its smooth, crafted edges and was instead as rough as the stones from the pyramids.

"Hey, you still have that puzzle. I remember when you called me all excited to tell me you had finally finished it. Do you still wear it every day?" Junior asked. The Pharaoh nodded and quickly dropped the puzzle back under the table. Junior then continued. "During my childhood, that was hidden in your grandpa's attic. As a kid, I always tried to get at its golden box, but he would stop me." He said as he turned to Grandpa. "You used to tell me that it had 'dark powers' and 'killed everyone in the archeological team but you.' Good thing I knew you were joking, any other kid and that story would have caused nightmares." Junior smiled. Grandpa smiled back but there was a bit of apprehension in his grin. "Please tell me that you didn't tell Yugi that joke when you gifted it to him. While I wasn't there for that birthday, I'm sure such a story would have been too much for him."

The Pharaoh felt a little indignation flare up when Junior concluded without any doubt that Yugi was too fragile for such a story.

"He did tell it to me, eventually. I rather like the legend, it gave a bit of mystery to the puzzle while I was solving it." The Pharaoh quickly said before he could think better of speaking. Grandpa and Yui raised an eyebrow at the Pharaoh's voice, but Junior wasn't swayed.

"Oh really? I suppose you could never resist a good mystery. So, does that thing have 'dark powers?' Do you have the power to get revenge on those mean classmates you used to tell me about?" Junior said with a joking grin.

The Pharaoh choked on the bite of food he had in his mouth and had to spend a few seconds clearing his throat. Junior reached over and gave a hearty slap on the Pharaoh's back. It was strong, strong enough to send the Pharaoh to the ground if there wasn't a table in front of him.

"Small, slow bites Yugi! You've been gobbling down that tuna like it's your last meal." Yui said. The Pharaoh gave her an embarrassed grin and sipped some water. He looked through the cup's glass bottom to see Junior was still waiting for his answer.

"Well… It certainly granted my wish for friends. I suppose that's revenge on those that said I'd be alone forever." The Pharaoh was forced to say. He tried to keep his voice high this time, but it sounded more like he was still choking than Yugi's voice.

"Maybe we should start cutting your food again. Or are you just trying to get this meal over with so we can get going?" Junior laughed. "Well, if you're that excited then I'll oblige." He said as he stood up and thanked his wife for the meal. He then grabbed his keys and his wallet. "Come on Yugi."

"Of course." The Pharaoh said like he had been expecting to leave. "Where do you have planned for us to go this time?"

"Our traditional first day back activity. Going to the arcade and getting shakes. That sound fun?"

"Yes, but before we go, I left something at Téa's house that I need to get." The Pharaoh said as he got up.

"Really? Is it something you can get later?" Yui asked.

"No, it's… my deck." The Pharaoh made up. Yui's eyes narrowed, it looked like she was about to argue but Junior spoke.

"Her house is still on the way to the arcade, right? I don't think the city's changed that much. I'm sure we can swing by to your girlfriend's place. We don't want the King of Games going into public without his deck." Junior said. The Pharaoh knew at the word "girlfriend" Yugi would have blushed, it even looked like Junior was trying to get that reaction, but the Pharaoh only nodded and ran upstairs.

In his room, he grabbed his real deck and Yugi's cellphone. He hid them both in his pocket. As he started heading out, he saw the half-opened card packet still on the rug. For a moment he paused. Everything was still there, all except the strange card and of course, his partner. He sighed and ran out of the shop after his "father."

…

"Well, here we are," Junior said as he pulled up to Téa's house. The Pharaoh stiffly got out of the car. That took longer than usual. Junior drove under the speed limit and never passed anyone the entire trip. There was even someone in front of them that was on their phone and didn't notice the green light, Junior had refused to use the car's horn. This had started the Pharaoh's foot-tapping and it hadn't stopped until they parked.

Junior rolled down his window and asked, "Do you need me to come in with you?"

"I can walk across the street alone. I'll be back out soon." The Pharaoh said as he just about ran to Téa's door. Before he even knocked, Joey stuck his head out and quickly looked around. When he saw only the Pharaoh, he yanked him inside.

"Good, we thought your- Yugi's dad might be with ya." Joey said as he led the Pharaoh to the kitchen.

"He's parked on the corner." The Pharaoh explained with a hint of an annoyed growl.

"Drats, that means we have to be fast." Téa sighed. She was sitting next to her house phone with a notepad on her lap.

"We've been tryin' to call everyone we can trust about dis, to see if anyone else has gone missin'. So far it looks like Yugi was the only one to disappear with a glowin' card." Joey said.

"I need to hear exactly what happened. I had the Ishtars on the phone earlier, but I didn't have much to tell them. They are looking into various ancient prophecies as we speak. Which is kind if you think about it since they are in a completely different time zone from us." Téa said.

The Pharaoh nodded and preceded to explain everything that happened this morning. The two silently listened, the confusion on their faces ever-growing. When the Pharaoh ended Joey could only shrug.

"Yep, just as I thought. I've got no clue Yugi, err Pharaoh."

"Same over here. I guess we can only hope that the Ishtars can dig up something. Tristan's on vacation, Bakura's sick, Duke's traveling around advertising Dungeon Dice Monsters, and the Kaibas won't even answer my calls." Téa said.

The Pharaoh let his head fall. He absolutely hated the feeling of being alone in this body that was not his. With what little good could be said of Yugi's last kidnapping, at least then the Pharaoh knew why it happened and who he could blame for it, that being mainly himself and Dartz. Here, a constant grey void loomed over everything, threatening to consume him as it did back then. It didn't seem right; Yugi was gone and the world wasn't falling apart. The earth should be just as devastated as he was for the loss of his light. Yet here he was on a sunny summer day, about to go play at the arcade.

Just then a car honk could be heard.

"That would be your dad, you should get going Yugi… Pharaoh." Téa said.

The Pharaoh hands gripped into tight fists. He then said under his breath, "Now he uses the car horn."

"What did you say?"

"...I don't want you calling me Yugi this time. I let it slide in the past because it made things easier, but here I can't stand it. I also don't want you calling me by some nebulous title either. I know this isn't my real name, but it will have to do for now. Please, call me Yami again." The force Yami put behind his plea made both Téa and Joey stop. The car honked again and Yami headed for the door.

"We'll give you an update when we can!" Téa called.

Yami turned back to her and nodded before heading out. As he walked to the car Yami noticed Junior seemed a little jumpy as he kept tapping his fingers on his steering wheel. He only stopped once Yami got into the car.

"You ready to go?" Junior asked when Yami hopped back inside the car.

"Sure," Yami said, not even trying to be convincing that time. Junior didn't notice.

…

As Yami and his "father" drove away, a large duel spirit studied them from Téa's roof. The spirit of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon flicked his tail as he watched his master's friend leave. He didn't come to the human world often unless Joey summoned him in a duel, but the disaster he had seen in the Dominion of the Beasts had sent him flying here. He thought about talking to the human that could see spirits, but Yami already had enough trouble by the dragon's perspective. So, he instead opened his wings and flew off towards one of the largest skyscrapers in the city. He needed to talk to the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and he knew they would not be happy to hear from him.


	4. Gandora

**A/N: ****I hope you'll forgive me, I made a leap in grammar logic and decided plural of Gandora was just Gandora. I'm sure I'm giving some English professors a heart attack with that (along with my myriad of other writing mistakes).**

Once again Yugi found himself losing his footing. His arms failed wildly as the scorched ground came up to embrace him. Right before he hit the floor, he felt the now familiar levitation magic of Silent Magician. His was slowly lifted back into the air and set down on his feet.

"Thanks, Silent. I'm still getting used to this armor." Yugi chuckled, as he shifted his metal plating. The little blue and white mage looked back with an understanding smile. She nodded and continued on through what used to be woods. Not slowing down for her human companion.

The mission Dark Magician Girl had given the two was to check on a magical wishing well. It apparently had the power to grant one wish to any monster that found it. Because of this, it was protected by many riddles, traps, and the one 7-star dragon allowed in the Dominion of the Beasts. Dark Magician Girl wanted to know if this dragon knew why the Gandora were attacking and if he would help.

Yugi thought it was a little odd Dark Magician Girl just wanted to talk to the well guardian instead of making a wish, but this wishing well did only grant one wish in an entire creature's lifetime. Maybe Dark Magician was trying to let Yugi save his wish? While Yugi thought that was nice of her, he was planning on using his wish to bring the Knights back. He hoped that would end this problem then and there

When Yugi first received the request he was nervous, but his fear lessened when Silent volunteered to go with him. Dark Magician Girl remained behind to heal and help the newly displaced monsters.

Yugi was about to take another step in the heavy armor, but then his visor fell over his eyes. He groaned and pushed it back up his helmet with a frustrated clank. Dark Magician Girl refused to let him leave the castle without a little protection. Of course, the only thing around was this medieval armor set, complete with sword and bag. Yugi almost didn't want to wear the outfit, but then he remembered he was going up against real dragons, without his deck.

'Why couldn't the magic light take my cards too?' Yugi thought to himself as he attempted to hop over a blackened log. When he landed on the other side, his sword clanked painfully on his side. Yugi yelped in discomfort.

"Hey Silent? Do you mind levitating this sword for a bit while I reposition my armor?" Yugi asked. Silent, with an understanding sigh, turned around and ran back to him. She didn't use magic and instead took the sword in her little hands. While the weapon was a few inches taller than she was, she seemed to lift it fine. In fact, she wielded it better than even Yugi could.

"You monsters are always stronger than you look." Yugi smiled as he collapsed on a blackened rock. Silent smiled proudly and snapped her fingers. Behind her blue, sparkling words appeared in midair.

"Even though I'm a mage, my childhood friend had training as a swordsman. I worked with him before I found magic to be my calling." The words were only in the air long enough for Yugi to quickly glance through them, then they disintegrated into azure glitter. These words were badly spelled and barely had any grammar. Thankfully, Yugi was used to this as he was the one to edit both Tristan's and Joey's English essays. He was just glad that Silent was calm enough to use magic now instead of madly gesturing.

"That's really cool. Where is your friend by the way?" Yugi asked. Silent immediately went rigid and looked away from him. Her frown made him regret speaking. "I'm sorry." Was all Yugi said in return.

Silent shook her head and squared her shoulders. "That's not important now. We have to get to that wishing well before the dragons find it or us." She wrote. Yugi nodded and stood back up. He held his hand out for the sword but Silent clutched it close to her chest.

"I can hold it for now. You have enough trouble with that armor. This is why I was never a warrior monster." She said as she started walking in her usual brisk pace. Yugi sighed as he started his fight with gravity once again.

"Do you know the dragon protecting the well, is he friendly?" Yugi asked, barely keeping up with the little mage.

"No, I have never been to the well. Do not worry though, while all dragons are violent, they are also stupid. I'm sure if he's unruly we can think of some way to control him." She wrote without even turning back to Yugi.

The edges of Yugi's mouth formed a straight line. He was about to ask more but thought better of it. He hadn't met many dragon spirits personally, Joey's Red-Eyes and Seto's three Blue-Eyes being about the only ones and even those were only in duels. The two male Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes fell into Silent's description of dragons perfectly. However, the one female Blue-Eyes had a restrained grace about her that was the opposite of violent or stupid. Maybe she was the odd one out of dragons? Silent did live around these beasts and Yugi didn't know any other dragons. When he was young he occasionally saw his Grandpa's Blue-Eyes, but he never talked to her for fear he was seeing things. Then when he was older and realized Duel Spirits were actually there, that Blue-Eyes had its card already ripped, stopping the spirit from coming to the human world.

Yugi shook his head, he had a mission to focus on.

…

The two had been traveling for a few hours. When they first set out, they had been prepared to sneak around the Gandora. Yugi even putting the Millennium Puzzle in his new bag to hide it from prying eyes. Yet, as they walked through the blackened forest, there was nothing, neither Gandora or duel monster.

The Dragons of Destruction lived up to their name. The area could hardly be called a forest anymore. Only the rare, blackened stick was still around to hint that trees used to be there. The rest was crushed into ash. The only good Yugi could think about this situation was at least he didn't feel that unnerving sensation anymore. In the new ash plain, everything wasn't perfect. He was more comfortable in destruction than a perfect forest. Yugi didn't want to think about what that meant for his psyche.

When the two left behind the destroyed forest they found themselves in much rockier terrain. In front of them was a looming mountain. The sun didn't move in this land so it forever cast a shadow over them, the light just barely peeking over the mountain top. Silent wordlessly pointed to the mountain peak, then inaudibly snickered when Yugi grimaced.

"Hey, you duel monsters have natural defenses that humans can't even dream of. I have to lug this armor up!" Yugi complained. Silent patted Yugi's side and then started racing up the cliffs. Her little size allowing her to nimbly climb from rock to rock. "You just love outdoing me, don't you?" Yugi sighed as he started his climb.

The new rocky land regained the uncanny quality that made Yugi's skin crawl, even though he was climbing along what should be imperfect rock outcropping. While this mountain did have "flaws" in its plants and cliff walls, each seemed to purposefully placed. The creeping sensation only multiplied as Yugi looked out from his perch at the entire land. He did his best to ignored the feeling however, this was a world of monsters, not humans.

"Are we close?" Yugi asked between gasps for air.

"Quarter way. I am simply surprised we have not met one of those Gandora yet. They were everywhere yesterday." Silent wrote as she looked around the corner of a large rock. Almost like the universe heard her and knew Yugi's luck for getting in these kinds of situations, the ground started to shake. Silent immediately looked back to Yugi with the most horrified expression.

Yugi nearly lost his footing in the trembling with his heavy armor but managed to hold on to the rock wall. Silent was not so fortunate and found herself falling backward, right off the edge. Yugi immediately grabbed for her, but his armor made him lose balance too. The two immediately began dropping.

Yugi held tightly to the little mage and curled around her so when they hit the ground, it would be him taking the brunt of the force. He then felt the air stop moving around him. It was that moment he remembered Silent had levitation powers. He was about to thank her when he saw beads of sweat start welling on her forehead, the blue light surrounding him flickering. While he was enclosed by blue light, she was not. It was only because he was under her was that she floated.

Before the little mage could put them back on the rock outcropping, a massive wave blocked the sun. Yugi looked up in horror to see a swarm of Kuriboh leaping off a higher ledge. The amount of brown fluff darkened the sky, and when it fell on the two it hit like a truck. Silent barely had the energy left to hold Yugi, add the weight of a Kuriboh mob and Silent couldn't do it anymore. The two went plummeting. Yugi once again held her to his chest and closed his eyes.

When he hit the bottom, it was a lot softer then he was expecting. In fact, he felt nothing. It was as if the two had just stopped moving. They just laid there, both too scared to open their eyes. It was Yugi that was the bravest and opened one eye first. He found himself glowing in a rainbow of colors. Both he and Silent were safe at the base of the mountain. They were surrounded by the wave of Kuriboh, all happily milling about, oblivious to the human and mage.

Silent lifted her head from his chest to see the colors surrounding them. Her eyes widened for a second, then she smiled. She pointed to the Kuribohs still coming off the cliff, as they hit the ground they also glowed.

"Is this the Kuriboh ability? To negate damage?" Yugi asked as he shakily got to his feet. Silent nodded and tried to summon words. There was a blue spark, but that was it. She puffed out her cheeks in a long exhale as she rested her hands on her hips.

"Don't worry about it, rest your magic for now. It saved us back there. Without being able to float for those few seconds we would have hit the ground before the Kuriboh." Yugi said. This made Silent grin a full-body smile. She then studied the moving brown mass that was the ground. She then clapped her hands. She reached into the Kuriboh mob and pulled out Yugi's sword.

"Thank you, I can carry that for now while you take a break," Yugi said as he took the weapon back. He then looked around for a way back up the cliffs. The Kuribohs were still calmly walking about, whatever got them to jump must have left.

'Or maybe that's just how they travel around. I'd jump off cliffs too if I took no damage whatsoever.' Yugi though as he searched. He then said out loud to Silent.

"You know, one of my most playful duel spirits is a Kuriboh. I wonder if he's here or with the Pharaoh right now." Yugi smiled as he watched the Kuriboh play and frolic. Silent immediately perked up at the Pharaoh's mention. She went up to Yugi's side and knocked on his metal armor. Yugi turned back to her with a raised eyebrow. She then pointed to a sack with the Millennium Puzzle in it.

"The Pharaoh? He's my very best friend back in my world." Yugi explained as the two started for the cliffs again. "We share a body and that allows him to fight evil in modern times… Or… I think that was the original purpose for us being put together. What it really happened was that he became my guardian and I became his lifeline. We kept each other sane through all the near-death experiences and villains. He's the whole reason I have my group of friends. Though, he can get a little overprotective." Yugi smiled, deciding to skip the fact the Pharaoh is also why he doesn't have any bullies anymore. Those people were all in a mental hospital.

Silent smiled as the two began climbing the mountain again. She seemed absolutely fascinated with what Yugi had to say. Even occasionally stopping in her hurried climb to listen.

"He's so strong and confident that I can't help but feel like I am too. In return, I remind him that he's human, not some dueling machine. We've been inseparable for a good four years now. So many adventures in so little time… We're even getting close to obtaining his memories. One of our first goals." Yugi suddenly felt that familiar dread claw into his chest. The same dread he felt whenever he thought of what would happen after the Pharaoh had his memories. "We were going to Egypt in two weeks." He paused. Silent stopped climbing the cliff for a few seconds to look back at him. Yugi's gaze had fallen to the ground. "I don't know what I'd do without him…"

Silent thought about climbing back down to the human. She felt his sudden negative energy and knew something was wrong. However, just as soon as the negativity came, it left. Yugi lifted his head with a big smile on his face.

"Well, I'm just doing fine now, aren't I? I'm sure he's fine too, probably having some fun with my family."

Silent's eyes stayed glued on Yugi. Her big, grey orbs boring into him. She wasn't buying it; true emotions don't swing that fast.

While she was distracted, a great clawed hand came from the outcropping above them and grabbed her. Her mouth opened but no scream came out as the large claw dragged her away, pushing Yugi off the wall at the same time.

"Silent Magician!" Yugi screamed as he fell down the mountain. Again, he fell on his back with no injury, even if this fall was shorter than the last one. He looked to the Kuriboh swarm, but most had hopped away at that point, Yugi couldn't even find a Kuriboh close enough for him to use its ability. Yugi couldn't focus on that however as he looked up the cliff to see two dragons roaring.

The dragons were about fifteen feet tall and covered in pitch black scales. All over their body were ruby orbs, half embedded in their scales. The dragons stood on two legs and had more muscles than Yugi had ever seen on a human body builder. Their wings stretched out, once again blocking the sun. What Yugi thought was roaring turned out to be laughing as the Gandora threw the little mage between them like a ball.

"Hey! Stop!" Yugi yelled. The Gandora hadn't even noticed him and pulled away from the cliff's edge.

Yugi immediately jumped into action. While he hated bringing it all the way here only to take it off, he couldn't climb the cliff fast enough with armor on. Yugi tore off the metal plating and grabbed his bag and sword. He attached both to his belt and started climbing again. The entire time ignoring the safer paths and simply racing to the top. One rock handhold gave out on Yugi and made half his body slip. This was enough for the sack to start sliding out of the belt loop. As it fell, the puzzle slid out of the bag. Yugi frantically grabbed for both bag and puzzle. He only barely caught the puzzle's chain with his free hand, and then the bag itself with his foot. Yugi with a grunt pulled the necklace over his head and the empty bag over his shoulder. He found another handhold and continued racing up.

At the outcropping, Yugi felt like he could never again have enough oxygen. He flopped over the edge and gasped. He had to get moving but his muscles refused. Adrenaline or not he wasn't the fittest of teenagers. As he lay, he looked around to see he wasn't at the halfway point of the mountain yet. Beside him, there was a large clearing behind some newly destroyed boulders where raucous roaring could be heard. Yugi first slowly got to his knees, then he forced himself his feet and stumbled over. He had to get to his new friend.

Yugi hid behind one of the bigger rocks and peaked around. On top of this cliff was a city-block-sized flat area surrounded by tall rock walls. Whatever had been there before was completely decimated with a whole hoard of Gandora in the center. They were all growling and laughing as they threw smaller duel monsters around to each other. Most being Kuribohs but a few were spellcasters like Silent Magician. Anytime one Gandora missed a catch the other dragons would all dogpile on that Gandora. Each time the dragon at the bottom of the pile's red orbs would glow a little more.

"Oh! This one's ready to pop!" The largest of the Gandora yelled. This Gandora was nearly twenty feet tall and had scars running all along his body. Yugi gasped as the large Gandora pointed to a smaller dragon whose orbs were shining a bright crimson. The little one roared and tried to fly away but the others brutally pulled him down. Soon enough the light from the orbs enveloped the little dragon and he exploded. The wave was enough to level the remaining boulders and nearly blow Yugi off the cliff. It would have worked if it wasn't for the blue energy surrounding him.

Yugi looked up in surprise to see Silent Magician in the grasp of one of the Gandora, she was barely conscious but she was holding her hand out, levitating him. In almost a second the magic disappeared and Yugi was dropped into the rubble. When Yugi blinked the dust out of his eyes he saw that both Silent Magician and the small Gandora had fainted, he hoped.

"Who's ready for the next round!" The largest Gandora roared.

"Giga, Giga, Giga!" The horde shouted.

Yugi knew he had to do something, he couldn't sit around while his new friend was in danger, but what could he do with only a bag and sword? Just then he heard a familiar kurri. He turned to see a Kuriboh had somehow climbed up the cliff with him and was hugging onto his leg.

"Kuriboh?" Yugi whispered. The monster looked up to him and shook their whole body in some form of a nod. "My Kuriboh?" He dared hoped. The monster crawled to his head and nuzzled into his cheek. Yugi smiled and pulled the monster into a hug. "I'm so glad you're here buddy. You were probably the one that took my damage away when I fell earlier, weren't you?" The Kuriboh purred as they pushed more into Yugi. "I'm really going to need you now. Can you negate damage again?" Yugi asked under his breath. Kuriboh nodded, steadfastness in their yellow eyes. Yugi nodded back and looked around. Nearly everything had been flattened, the only thing not destroyed (that wasn't attached to the mountain) was a single rock wall that had been carved away into a half-moon shape. It wouldn't last one more attack.

"That's it!" Yugi accidentally said out loud. The Gandora all stopped their 'playing' and turned to the crouched form of Yugi. It was quiet for many more moments, the first time for the dragons all day. Finally, the largest Gandora strode forward, stretching his wings out.

"What're you doing here, little warrior?" He asked in a voice so deep it rattled Yugi's bones.

Yugi found his words dying before they ever got to his throat. The dragon's sharp claws and razor teeth stopping any further discussion. Yugi then saw the limp form of Silent Magician in the claws of one of these monsters and instead of words, he felt rage building up. He quickly pulled his bag off his back and put Kuriboh inside. Kuriboh was a bit confused but sat quietly as Yugi closed up the bag.

"I am here to stop you from hurting these monsters anymore!" Yugi declared, pointing right at the largest one.

"Only one little warrior monster? Really?" The largest laughed a foundation breaking rumble. The other Gandora did not join in. The big one realized this and looked back with a growl.

"Giga, look." One of the Gandora whispered as she pointed at Yugi. The largest Gandora called Giga turned back to Yugi and his eyes narrowed. Yugi realized that all gazes were on the Millennium Puzzle around his neck.

"Not a warrior. A pharaoh." Giga said in a much quieter voice. He took a step back and looked over the human. Yugi remained standing tall, with fists clenched. He never lost eye contact with the brute.

Giga then spoke. "We aren't hurting anyone; these puffballs feel nothing." He said as he gestured to the Kuribohs with his clawed hand.

"I see some other monsters you have that do feel pain. Even then, the Kuribohs definitely don't feel good being thrown around like balls." Yugi said in a steady voice, trying to copy Yami's tone when he spoke to villains. "If you end this now, we can talk and stop this from escalating any further."

This made the entire hoard bust out laughing. Then Giga lifted his clawed hand and everyone immediately stopped. He kept studying Yugi, closely watching his every move. "Talk huh? You're in the wrong place to talk, Pharaoh." Giga growled as he took a step towards Yugi with every sentence. "Don't you know who we are? We are Gandora, masters of mayhem, the deadly devastators, the dragons of DESTRUCTION!" At the last word, Giga shot his head forward and snapped his jaw shut only a few inches from Yugi's face.

Yugi outwardly remained unfazed, though internally it felt like all his internal organs headed south. He had a feeling that if he didn't keep a straight face, he would be joining the Kuribohs in the Gandoras' game. Thankfully, he had years of practice staying strong with school bullies and evil crooks. That didn't stop a nauseous feeling from replacing where his organs should have been.

"All I see right now are the dragons of deficiency," Yugi said, channeling every bit of the Pharaoh that he could. Saying those words felt wrong to him, but he had to prove he would not back down.

The other Gandora roared and some even started to charge forward when Giga once again put his hand out.

"You think you're strong little Pharaoh? Let's see if you're Gandora strong." He then flicked his tail so quickly it made a whip-like crack. Two Gandora immediately dropped their monsters and ran off. One of the monsters dropped being Silent Magician. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around dazedly. Yugi quickly glanced to her and she nodded. She put her head back down and closed her eyes.

The two dragons returned to the cliff top with another Gandora between their arms. This Gandora was just as humongous as Giga, but this one had no scars and was unconscious.

"Prove yourself to us Pharaoh, then we'll 'talk.'" Giga snarled. He then went to the new Gandora's side and used his tail to slap her across the face. The new Gandora slowly opened her eyes and looked up to Giga with an almost pleading look. This seemed to anger Giga as he reached down and violently pull the Gandora up so they were face to face.

"This is your last chance, Hakairyuu. I can't keep sticking my neck out for you." He then threw the dragon towards Yugi.

The dragon fell to her knees. For a moment she looked up to Yugi and their gazes met. She didn't have the malice the other dragons had in their red eyes, this one looked exhausted.

"I don't fight anymore, Giga." The dragon said. Her voice was just as low as Giga's, but this one was more feminine.

"If you want to remain with us then you need your fighting spirit. This is how to get it back! Squish this warrior and we can go back to how it used to be." Giga said as the other dragons started cheering. Yugi took a tentative step back as the dragon rose to her feet. She stretched out her wings and clenched her claws. She looked back to the cheering crowd and for a few brief moments, a smile could be seen stretching across her face. Then she lunged at Yugi.


	5. Run Like the Devil's Behind You

A row of yellow lights above the two started flashing excitedly. A ringing bell sang throughout the arcade. Yami and Junior just beat the high score in another two-person arcade game.

"Woah! We actually managed to do it!" Junior cheered as he put his hand up for a high-five. Yami weakly tapped his own hand against his.

"Ah come on Yugi, you can do better than that!" Junior said as he kept his hand in the air. Yami ignored it and walked away. "Hey, we still have to put out initials in. Oh well." Junior shrugged as he put in SYM and ran to catch up to Yami.

The two had been doing well at the arcade, beating many high scores together. Junior seemed happy about it, but Yami couldn't force more than a strained smile. He tried to look like he was having fun, it wasn't the father's fault this just happened to coincide with Yugi's disappearance. And unlike before, Yami could actually play these games, with his own body and everything. Instead of fun, however, the whole experience became a constant reminder of how lonely this body was, even with Junior seemingly attached to his side.

"So, what do you feel like playing now?" Junior asked as he looked around the flashing and vibrant arcade.

"I'm a bit tired. Maybe we can have those shakes now?" Yami said, looking around the annoyingly loud and crowded arcade. He didn't hide his deeper voice from Junior anymore, it just didn't seem worth it. Junior didn't seem to know the difference anyway.

"Ok, you see if you can find a table and I'll get the shakes. strawberry right?" Junior asked. Yami knew he had a very different palate than Yugi, but he was too drained to care. He gave an approving hand wave to Junior and they went their separate ways.

Yami found a table by a window and slumped down. He had been contemplating a truly terrifying thought this entire trip. With Yugi gone, maybe he should finally let the Muto family know of his existence. He needed to find Yugi and he would need all the help he could get. They had to stop wasting time in these bonding activities. Yugi could be hurt or worse and he was here playing games! Yami shook his head as he tried to think.

'But how to do it so they don't have as bad of a reaction as last time?' Yami thought, remembering Yui nearly dragging him out of the house to the mental institute.

As he mulled it over, his gaze fell out the window into the busy city. People and cars were going every which way, each filled with so much more energy than he had. Across the street from the arcade was a park filled with picnickers and joggers. As Yami watched them laugh and play he felt that pang of guilt again. Junior was trying his best to make this an enjoyable day, but Yami just couldn't go along with it. His partner was gone and what replaced him was the spineless father.

Every time it looked like the littlest confrontation was about to start, Junior would back down. Whether it be whose turn it was to play the popular game (even after they had been patiently waiting), who stole who's kill in a shooter, even waiting in line for the bathroom. Every time another person slightly contradicted him, Junior agreed with them and left the situation. Even when they were very much in the right. It was little things, but they were building upon Yami's already strained nerves.

'How does that man work with the government?' Yami thought as he leaned back in his chair

"Are you Yugi Muto? The King of Games?" Yami turned to see a boy about eight-years-old standing by his side. His eyes were sparkling and he was barely holding still. Yami had seen and dealt with many kids before like this, fans.

"Yes." Yami put on his most convincing smile of the day. The kid could no longer hold back his excitement and jumped up and down.

"Mom, Mom! It's-it's-" The kid yelled. Before he could say Yugi's name, Yami put a hand out.

"Please don't bring attention here. I want to enjoy this arcade as much as you do, without the crowd." Yami smiled. His eyes quickly glanced to the dueling arena he knew would be filled with more rabid dueling fans. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice the boy.

"Oh right." The kid quickly quieted down as his mother headed their way.

"Thank you. What is your name?" Yami asked.

"I'm Zachary. Remember it!" The child grinned as he began rummaging through his pockets.

"Who have you found here Zachary?" The older woman with short cut, blonde hair asked as she came up to the two.

"This is Yugi Muto! The best duelist in the world!" Zachary cheered as he pulled his deck out of his pocket. "Look over my deck, King of Games!" he breathlessly asked.

Both Yami and Yugi had been asked to do this by many fans over the years and each never minded it. It gave them a chance to learn the up and coming strategies while helping new players. Yami agreed and happily took the deck.

"Thank you. My son Zachary here is a straight A student, yet he wants to be a professional duelist in the future. Do you think he can Mr. Muto?" She asked.

"Mr. Muto? Oh, hearing that for my son makes me feel old." They all turned to see Junior come up with two large milkshakes in his hands. He put them down on the table and sat across from Yami, beside the two newcomers. "Talking with your fans huh?" Junior smiled. Yami nodded to him and finished looking through the deck. He handed it back to the boy.

"It's a very good deck, much better than most make at your age. I can tell you have thought out your cards and strategies instead of just picking the strongest monsters. What I would suggest is having a bit of a variety." Yami explained as he reached for his own deck and put it on the table.

"What do you mean?" Zachary asked.

"Your deck is built around getting warrior monsters on the field quickly so you can summon your strongest dragon. Everything is built for that specific strategy and that's very good. Great duelist like Valentine and Kaiba-" At the second name Junior choked on his shake but quickly cleared his throat as discreetly as possible. "…Have gotten far basing their decks on one monster. However, what would happen if someone used a trap or spell card to destroy your strongest dragon before you could even use it? You would have nothing left. That is why I use multiple tactics."

Yami then pulled from his deck the Kuriboh card.

"See this Kuriboh here? While he is weak, he can be used as a shield, sacrifice, and even a destroyer with the right cards. Versatilely can save a failing game." Yami said as he let the kid look at the Kuriboh. Yami was almost expecting the spirit of the puffball to come out like it usually did when being shown off, but no spirit appeared.

"Wow, Mr. Muto. Thank you." The kid beamed. A real smile found its way to Yami's face as he looked at the young fan. Then the kid snatched his card.

"He-Hey! Please give that back." Yami said. He grabbed the card back from the child as Zachary tried to push it into his own deck. The kid's eyes started to water. In the side of Yami's vision, he saw the woman's eyes narrow. "I wasn't gifting you the card. If you would like to hold it, I wouldn't mind. I just need a warning before you take it."

"But you give fans cards all the time. I've seen you do it on TV." Zachary whined.

"Yes, sometimes I do, but that was because I had extra cards then." Yami quickly said. "I'm sorry, I don't have cards to give you now, but I do believe you have an excellent deck. This is no exaggeration when I say I think you have quite a future in dueling."

"But I want that card!" The kid yelped, pointing to the card.

Yami sat up straight and looked to Junior for support. The father was dumbstruck, he could only shake his head as he continued drinking his milkshake. His eyes glanced to the mother to see if she would do anything but instead, she turned up her nose and started tapping her foot. When Yami realized he'd get no help from Junior, he turned back to the crying child.

"The Kuriboh card is common. If you want specifically that card, they are in almost every beginner pack." Yami tried.

The mother stepped forward as Zachary's tears were growing. "Oh, can't you just give him that one? If they're so common someone of your status won't miss one."

Yami felt himself growing smaller as the woman towered over him. He couldn't believe his ears. Yami glanced to Junior one more time, the father only shrugged. He continued to sip on his shake and try to make himself as tiny as possible.

"No, this card has a lot of meaning to me," Yami said back to the woman.

'And has the spirit of one special Kuriboh.' He thought.

"Don't be so selfish. You apparently give cards away all the time. Why is my child any different?" She spat right in his face. This was when Yami narrowed his own eyes

"I'm not a card vendor. Please go to my grandpa's shop for such a thing. Now, please leave." Yami said in his stern pharaoh voice. The voice that held all the authority of five thousand years. Zachary's crying got to ear-splitting volumes as he pulled on his mother's pants. The mother turned to Yami once again and looked like she was about to start yelling.

"Leave." Yami reiterated. Something in Yami's voice and eyes made the hair on the back of the woman's neck stand on end.

"Huhmp. Some champion you turned out to be. I hope all your fans know how horrible of a person you actually are." The woman said with her nose still in the air as she grabbed her now bawling son and pulled him away.

Yami, after making sure the two were gone, put both elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands.

"Being famous must be hard," Junior said as he reached over to pat Yami's shoulder.

"Did I do the right thing?" Yami asked. Junior looked to where in the arcade the woman went and heard Zachary still loudly crying

"I don't know, maybe you should have just given it to him? It would have saved everyone this scene at least." Junior said while pointing with his thumb.

Yami looked across the arcade to see Zachary sprawled out across the ground and slamming it with everything he had. He was still screaming at the top of his lungs. Yami's cheeks turned red as he quickly looked down at his Kuriboh card.

'No, I could never give you up.' Yami said in his mind. No response from the spirit, which was strange with the usually chatty Kuriboh.

Yami didn't have a chance to think on that long. Movement from the side of his eyes made his heart stop. With Yami's senses already in emergency mode, everything went into overdrive when he looked out the window to see his doom. Yami immediately dropped the card back on top of his deck and bolted out of the arcade.

"Where are you going?!" Junior yelled.

"I'll be back!" Yami shouted as he ran past the bratty kid and his mother into the Domino city streets.

In front of him was the park and running along the jogging path in it was a group of teens about his age, all wearing matching white and blue sweatshirts. At the head of the group was a tall woman yelling orders to keep the teens running. Yami was frozen in place, one face amongst the crowd had gotten his attention, enough that he had to run out of the arcade just to be sure of his eyes. There, near the back, was the unmistakably large eyebrows of Tetsu Ushio.

Yami hardly remembered the first few months after Yugi solved the puzzle. During that time he had been more shadow than a person. Controlling Yugi only when bullies went too far, Ushio being the first to play one of the Pharaoh's "games." Yami's only true memory of that incident was of Ushio being carted away the next day, his mind crushed. The worst part of the memory, Yami remembered being PROUD. He had shattered this strong man until he was nothing more than a sniveling ball, the bully would never hurt Yugi again. Remembering that pride made the back of Yami's throat taste sour. Ushio was supposed to be broken beyond repair, or that had been Yami's intention back then. Yet here he was, in a public park running with a group of similar teens.

Yami was conflicted. While he was elated Ushio's mind wasn't destroyed, he was also worried for Yugi. If Ushio was well enough to run, what if he ran his mouth about the circumstances of the night they met? With Yami thinking about coming clean about himself, it would be hard to convince Yugi's family that he wasn't some dangerous second personality if they found out about people like Ushio.

Yami slowly made his way over to the park, he had to know more about Yugi's old classmate. Yami found himself behind a tree as the group ran by again, one of the members lagged to the side so he could catch his breath. Yami decided to take his chance and walk up to the stranger.

"Hello, I've never seen a group like this run here before. Are you a charity?" Yami asked, quickly making up an excuse for talking to the stranger.

"It's a program for future police officers. They take students about to graduate high school and show them the life of an officer to see if this is a future they want. I personally don't think I'm cut out for this." The teen gasped. "But then again, if I'm not ready for this, then how are all those mental patients doing it?"

"Mental patients?" Yami asked, eyeing the group as it rounded the park again.

"Yeah, we have a few recruits from the Domino Mental Institute. Don't worry, they're safe." The teen waved as he stood back up. As the group passed by again, he returned to running. Yami didn't have time to hide this time. In a second, Ushio made eye contact with him. It felt like time stopped as the two recognized the other. Then the awful memories of the darkness and the sinister laughing filled both's minds.

"Come on rookies! Run like the devil's behind ya!" The lead woman yelled. At that moment Ushio passed her and kept going. He wasn't stopping, not at the end of the trail, nor at the group of picnickers in his path. Ushido was gone. This got the lead woman to whoop with delight as she ordered the others to run faster. In the cloud of dust behind them, Yami came darting out, trying to outpace his own demons.

Yami rushed back into the arcade. He threw his back to the wall and stayed glued there, trying to catch his breath.

'So, there are others? Others that are now healed?' Yami didn't know if he should be jumping with joy at the prospect of not permanently damaging them, or hiding in a corner. He needed his partner's kind reassurance now. Yugi seemed to always know what to do in these kinds of delicate situations, where card games couldn't fix the problem.

'Why isn't he here?'

When Yami felt like he could act calm. He straightened up and put his hands in his pockets. He then strolled through the crowd, back to the table. Just in time to see the entitled mother standing over Junior, her face red, and he holding out the Kuriboh card.

"Stop!" Yami ordered. Junior immediately froze. Yami came over and snatched his deck and the card out of Junior's hand. "This is my card. Not your's or your son's" he barked at the women.

"You can't talk to me like that. You're just jealous of my son's future talent. You're scared he's going to dethrone you, King of Games!" The woman yelled, saying his title like it was the name of some disgusting bug. This got all duelists in the arcade to look in their direction. Yami felt their stares and knew where this was going to lead. He suddenly remembered why it had felt so good to punish people back in the day. He turned to Junior with the coldest stare he could give. Junior immediately got up and followed him out of the arcade. Leaving behind the two shakes.

"I'm sorry Yugi. I know I shouldn't have... I just… panicked." He tried to say more, but Yami put his hand up to silence him. As the two walked (Yami more stormed) towards the car, Téa and Joey came around the corner.

"Yami!" Téa called as she waved her hand in the air.

"Yami? Doesn't that mean something like darkness in Japanese? Is that your cool nickname?' Junior tried to joke, but Yami was having none of it.

"I'm going to walk with these guys for a while. I'll be home by nine." Yami said, more stated. Junior was about to say something but if looks could kill, Yami would have just committed parricide. Junior nodded and hopped into the car.

"I'm so glad you guys are here." Yami sighed after Junior drove away. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Joey watched the car leave then turned to Yami. "I'm guessin' the arcade didn't go too well?" He asked. Yami ignored the question and started following the two.

"Did you guys find something?" Yami sighed as the three walked past the arcade and the park. Yami not caring where they went.

"No, not yet. We were just heading to the museum to see if it had anything. It's a long shot but it was better than sitting around waiting for the Ishtars to call us back." Téa said.

"We thought you'd be at the arcade and we were just gonna check on you. I didn't think we'd be pullin' you from your Dad." Joey said as he rested his hands behind his head as they walked.

"That man is not my dad." Yami nearly snapped. The two glanced to each other behind Yami's back, and Téa shook her head. She didn't want to push Yami when he was clearly angry. Joey had less tact.

"Yugi's Dad? I've never seen him much, but he seemed nice enough. What did he do?"

"He's a coward," Yami said, wanting to end the conversation.

"Really? Isn't he in the military or some government thing? That's why he's gone all the time, right?" Téa asked.

Yami gave an exasperated shrug.

"Geez, it must have been bad. Well, you can hang with us if you really need to stay away from him dese comin' days. Say Téa's tutorin' you with me or somthin'." Joey suggested as the group came up to the museum and started paying for entry.

"I don't mind, Yami. We have to figure out where Yugi's gone anyway. It's just strange that Mr. Muto would be like that. The first time I met him was when I was four. During that time, he was rumored to be leaving Gozaburo Kaiba's private army." Téa said. This got Yami to stop in his tracks, right in the middle of the museum entrance.

"Gozaburo? But that madman only hired the most ruthless masterminds for his personal army." Yami asked. Both Téa and Joey shrugged. His father's past was one subject Yugi barely talked about with them, even with Téa.

Yami then shook his head, clearing it of his annoyance and fear that had clouded it since running from the park. He knew he was usually better than this at controlling his emotions. He tried not to focus on his recent lack of control and continued into the museum. Inside the three started wandering around. More focused on talking than looking.

"It doesn't matter now, we have to find Yugi," Yami said, smoothing back his ruffled bangs.

"Yeah! Maybe dere's some other exhibit dat can tell us our destinies!" Joey shouted, hoping to keep Yami in this calmer mood.

"Yes, let's find Yugi!" Téa also cheered.

"But Yugi's right beside you." A voice came from the three's left.

Down the hall where the Egyptian exhibit used to be before it was moved back to Egypt, stood Solomon Sr. In this hall there were new relics based on the discovery of ancient duel monster games. One of these new artifacts was a piece of slab rock depicting a giant door. On one side of the door were monsters of every kind surrounding a man of yellow eyes, wearing black armor. On the other side of the door was a man with spiky hair, wearing a necklace that looked a lot like the Millennium Puzzle. Grandpa was standing in front of this rock and seemed to be studying it before the three came his way.

"Then again, maybe he isn't here?" Solomon asked as he turned to the teens. The three remained frozen. "Yugi hasn't been here for a while, has he?"


	6. Violence

Yugi had changed much in the last few years. Four years ago, he had almost resigned himself to be forever alone. He had Téa, but she was so popular and had other interests that Yugi didn't share. He wasn't going to hold her back and expected her to find other friends soon. He was fine being alone, he was used to it.

Then he solved the puzzle.

It all seemed to go by so fast after that. First, Yugi found a real group of friends. Then, he learned how he was deserving of their friendship, like how Téa was never on the path to leave him, none of his friends were. Then, he had found courage. He had always been strong, not physically but definitely mentally strong. He just didn't have the faith in himself to back it up at the beginning.

It's strange, as a young child, he had been very "courageous" as his grandpa put it. Yugi used to always battle the monsters in the closet or back-talk the villains in his cartoons. Then, when he was six years old, his father left the KaibaCorp private army… After seeing the pain his dad went through and how it hurt everyone else in the family, Yugi found he had one belief that he clung to for the rest of his life. He HATED violence. If that meant sacrificing his body to avoid a fight, he would do it.

Four years ago, this core belief put him on the track to failure, but that was because he hadn't the nerve to implement other ways of getting out of fights. Taking the hits and not fighting back, even to defend himself, seemed like the path of least resistance. The Pharaoh had been a big help there. The spirit had given him the strength to look past his fears and face his problems, in and out of duels.

Duel Monsters could seem like Yugi simply pushing the fighting onto others, especially since now that he knew some cards had actual spirits in them. But Duel Monsters as a species loved to fight and grow. Duels in the human world never injured them, even shadow games weren't life-threatening. That changed when Yugi was in their world. This was their home and damage was real. Yugi knew as soon as the Gandora lunged at him that he couldn't fight back. Not just couldn't, wouldn't. It was something that he had felt to his very core. Even if he knew how to use the sword strapped to his back, he wouldn't be able to lift it to really hurt his opponent. However, that didn't mean he was helpless.

As soon as he saw the large dragon lunge towards him, Yugi jumped to the side and rolled. It was a move his father had taught him when he was still working for KaibaCorp, but Yugi thought he'd never use it again. It was the Pharaoh that showed him that self-defense was not violence. He was worth saving. He wasn't just as wrong as the bad guy for wanting to keep himself safe. While he couldn't go out of his way to hurt this dragon, he wasn't just going to roll over as he used too (ignoring the fact he just rolled over to get away from her attack).

"We don't need to do this!" Yugi yelled. The dragon mob laughed as the female Gandora nearly threw herself off the edge when she missed Yugi.

"We absolutely do need to do this little pharaoh. Gandora only accepts the strongest, anything less and you will not be worth 'talking' too." Giga chuckled. Then he yelled to the attacking Gandora. "You have this Hakairyuu!"

Yugi gritted his teeth and glanced towards Hakairyuu who was now righting herself. It took her a bit of time just to find her center of gravity.

'So, these guys don't have the greatest balance.' Yugi thought. He kept to the thick mountain wall to the side of the cliff and yelled. "We don't need to fight Hakairyuu!"

Hakairyuu's eyes narrowed as Yugi yelled. "You cannot use that name." She said in a low, dangerous growl. She gritted her teeth and lunged at Yugi with more ferocity. She threw her whole body into grabbing him, causing her to slide along the ground on her belly. When he saw her coming, Yugi used the wall as a jumping off point. He waited until she was nearly in front of him and leaped onto her head and ran down her back. He more fell off than jumped off her back, but he quickly found his feet and backed away from the fuming dragon.

The other Gandora were laughing at her attempts at catching the small warrior. This only made Hakairyuu angrier as she jumped to her feet, hitting her head on an overcropping. "You'll pay for that!" She screamed blindly. While this only made Yugi realize he couldn't talk her down, it made Giga smile.

Yugi kept slowly backing up until he turned tail and ran away from the cliff and closer to the Gandora mob in the center of the mountain clearing. He then glanced through the throng of Gandora to Silent Magician. She was still pretending to be knocked out, but she had one eye open. She looked horrified as she watched the fight. Yugi once again nodded towards her, he then shifted the bag strapped over his back around as he ran. Kuriboh stuck their head out a little, enough for Silent to see. When Yugi saw the recognition across her face, he then looked to the barely standing, crescent-shaped stone wall. It was taller than any of the Gandora and once Yugi looked at it, Silent did too. This wall was on the other side of the clearing, opposite of the cliff, currently being blocked by the crowd of Gandora. The grimace that crossed Silent's face let Yugi know she was starting to get his plan.

"There you are!" Before Yugi could move two giant hands circled around him. They crushed him as he was lifted into the air by Hakairyuu. Yugi tried to struggle out but her hold was too tight.

"Crush him!" The other Gandora began to cheer. Giga crossed his arms and silently watched. Two smaller Gandora were now leaning on Giga, one on each side. Seeing this made Hakairyuu growl, but not at Yugi. She then really began to squeeze him.

Yugi suddenly stopped feeling pain as his whole body became covered in the same rainbow light as earlier. This surprised Hakairyuu. It was only a split-second hesitation, but it was enough for Yugi to grasp the sword hilt over his shoulder and push it out, stabbing the dragon's hand. Hakairyuu yelped in more surprise than pain and dropped Yugi. He landed with a thud on his belly but once again he felt nothing. He used the momentary confusion and decided to backtrack. He ran back towards the edge of the cliff. While this was the opposite direction of his plan, he needed time to check on Kuriboh. He quickly pulled off the bag and looked inside to see his ruffled Kuriboh with two swirls in its eyes.

"Thanks for the save. I'm guessing you can't do that again for a while?" Yugi asked. Kuriboh woozily put up two claws. "Can't do it again for two minutes or two hours?!" Yugi gulped. His plan would be a lot harder without Kuriboh.

"Hey! Eyes on the fight!" One Gandora yelled. Yugi turned to see Hakairyuu staring daggers into him. She then held up her hand in such a way that he saw the small wound he gave her. In a flash of red light, the cut suddenly disappeared. Then, Hakairyuu's eyes seemed to gain a fire in them, literally.

"You shouldn't have done that hatchling." She said in a low voice. Yugi chose to run to the cliff because he thought it would make her second guess running straight at him again, now he wasn't so sure. He rehid Kuriboh in his bag and pulled his sword forward. He held the sword awkwardly, any real swordsman would have laughed at his stance, but Yugi had to hope that these dragons weren't real swordsmen. They couldn't know how scared and unprepared he really was.

Instead of charging Hakairyuu let her mouth slowly open. Yugi saw a familiar red light grow in the back of her throat. He didn't need a second glance to know he needed to run. Yugi dashed to the left of Hakairyuu, but the dragon followed him with her head, allowing a blast of crimson light to explode out of her mouth. Yugi remembered this beam from the forest and how hot it was. Once he knew he was not going to outrun the beam he dropped to the ground. The beam went flying over him, just barely, the heat burning his back and neck. The rest went flying out into the open air and disappeared. Yugi wanted to cry out but he knew if he did the other dragons would notice.

'Why couldn't Yami be here?'

"Come on Hakairyuu, finish this! Get your fighting spirit back and then we can be mates once again!" Giga yelled, the two Gandora by him looking disappointed.

'Mate?' Yugi thought. He then saw Hakairyuu powering up another blast. It was only thanks to his adrenaline that Yugi was able to jump to his feet and run towards the crowd of Gandora. He had to hope that they wouldn't join the fight if he used them as a shield. He rushed right behind Giga and the two dragons still leaning on him. The two smaller Gandora squealed like Yugi was some kind of mouse while Giga simply looked enraged. Between their legs, Yugi couldn't see it but he heard Hakairyuu's frustrated roar.

"Come on! Just blast us! A little sword slash won't make you strong enough to hurt us!" One of the Gandora yelled. Yugi's heart froze when he heard that. If Hakairyuu did breathe another blast, he didn't think he could dodge it in the packed space between all these dragons legs and tails. Yugi then heard another frustrated bellow. He gathered enough courage to look back to see Hakairyuu pushing through the dragon hoard instead of using her destructive breath. While Yugi was relieved, he noticed many of the dragons seemed frustrated by this.

Yugi nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a tap on his shoulder. As he continued to run towards the back of the crowd where the crescent-shaped rock wall was, he looked behind to see Kuriboh sticking one arm out. The puffball gave a three-clawed version of a thumbs up and pulled back into the bag. Yugi hoped that meant Kuriboh was ready to take away damage again, because ready or not they had to end this. Before he or anyone else got hurt.

Once Yugi finally fought through the hoard he turned, putting his back to the rock wall. He looked out and raised an eyebrow when he saw some of the other dragons were purposefully slowing Hakairyuu down. Pulling on her or blocking her path.

"Just blast already!" and "You've really lost your fighting spirit, haven't you?" were just a few of the things the hoard was roaring at Hakairyuu.

Hakairyuu squeezed her eyes shut and spread out her wings, making everyone back off her a few steps. "I don't want to blast you guys!" she screamed. This only made the other dragons gazes turn from disappointed to pity.

It was then Yugi saw that Hakairyuu's ruby orbs were glowing nearly as bright as her breath. For once, he hoped that meant she was about to explode, and that exploding wasn't a trait of that one small Gandora from earlier. Yugi glanced one more time to Silent Magician. She was slowly standing up, forgotten by the dragons as they watched the fight. Yugi prayed to whatever god could hear him that at least she would get out. He then turned back to Hakairyuu.

"Over here you… large lizard!" Yugi yelled. He then took a step forward and held out his sword again. "Can you really only catch me with that breath? Well, that seems to line up with what I heard about Gandora. They can only do one thing and even that isn't that good." Yugi tried taunting. He was nowhere near his friends' witty comebacks but it seemed to do its job. Hakairyuu stared into his very soul with those crimson eyes and roared. The rock wall behind Yugi shook at the thunderous roar, but he stood firm as the dragon charged at him.

All in under three seconds, Hakairyuu full-bodied-rammed into Yugi, throwing him and herself into the wall. Kuriboh then activated their ability, taking away Yugi's pain. Then Silent Magician magically pulled Yugi with what little power she had left. In the side of Hakairyuu's eyes, she saw the rainbow boy slip past her and land next to the small mage. Thanks to her lack of balance Hakairyuu couldn't stop her charge as she exploded right into the rock wall. By the time she could see past the ruby flash of her body's bomb, the wall was already collapsing on top of her. After an explosion, Gandora were at their simultaneously strongest and weakest. The large wall crumpled right on top of her and the damage she took was more than the power she gained. She was done.

Yugi blinked in surprise as a great dust cloud covered his opponent. His plan somehow worked, all without being able to tell the different pieces what their parts were. Nonetheless, Yugi got to his feet and hugged both Silent and Kuriboh close.

"Let's never do that again. We all good with that plan?" Yugi sighed. Silent pushed her face into his chest as her agreement. Kuriboh then broke up the hug by wildly squeaking.

Everyone turned to see the clearly furious Giga stomp towards them. They all stood their ground, Yugi holding his sword forward and Silent Magician pretending to begin a spell. Giga wasn't focused on them though; his eyes were on the large rock pile that had completely buried Hakairyuu. When Yugi finally looked back and saw the pile, his heart fell. He had wanted to end Hakairyuu's attack but not like this. He remembered the Gandora earlier fainting after exploding and hope the rocks would keep her in place, not bury her.

It looked like Giga was about to start digging for his ex-mate, but he stopped himself. His clawed hands clenched and unclenched. His tail whipped in all directions as he stared at the newly created grave. From Yugi's group's point of view, he looked conflicted, but from the hoard's view, he was the picture of pissed. After many dreadfully silent seconds, he turned on his heels and faced the mob.

"She lost, she was weak." Giga snarled. "She has no place among us anymore!" He announced with finality. He turned to Yugi with a growl, but he quickly hid it with a toothy smile. "You have won Pharaoh. You are clearly one of us."

Everyone stood dumbstruck for many seconds, then the Gandora began to cheer "Pharaoh!" over and over again.

Yugi swallowed hard, still staring at the collapsed stone wall. There was no movement beneath. Silent tried to get his attention by pulling on his shirt but Yugi couldn't take his eyes off the grey rocks.

"Now you wished to talk-" Giga began but was cut off by Yugi racing past him to get to the mound. The teen immediately started pulling rocks away in an attempt to unearth the Gandora.

"Leave it!" Giga growled but Yugi only glanced back at him for a moment before continuing. "She lost! There is no need to make yourself look weak for her sake."

Yugi did stop after that, long enough to wave Silent over. "Can you help me? I can't move all these rocks myself." Yugi asked.

Silent, with eyes full of fear, glanced at the Gandora mob that had destroyed her home and had run her people out of their forest. She then looked to Yugi still trying to move aside boulders too heavy for his human body. She sighed and shook her head as she ran to his side. While she could no longer use her magic, she still helped him dig up stones; wishing the entire time that she could yell at him for being an idiot.

The dragons crowded in, but none helped or even went past Giga as the two worked (Kuriboh being too exhausted to even get out of the bag). All the dragons looking to their leader for direction. He gave them nothing, only glaring with bared teeth as the little beings worked.

Quickly, the two pushed out a particularly large slab and Hakairyuu's head was free. Yugi knelt down and felt her scaly neck. Her scales were surprisingly smooth, like obsidian, with the skin in between even being pillow soft. He didn't know much about duel monster anatomy, but he guessed since she was still breathing, even if it was shuddered gasped, that she was alive.

"Stop! She has lost. Do not go back on your victory for this weakling!" Giga roared, his wings and tail flaring up. Despite his threatening stance, he wasn't stepping forward, no dragon was. In fact, they were so focused on what Giga would do that they didn't notice that all their playthings had run away.

Once Yugi saw that all the other monsters had gotten away, he frowned right back at Giga.

"I won, but I couldn't leave her buried. She deserves her life. It doesn't make her or me weaker!" Yugi yelled, lecturing these dragons like there were middle-schoolers instead of building-sized monsters. He had been called weak his whole life and it was only the support of his family and friends that made him realize that he was not. He was not about to let that insult control him again.

Giga's eyes narrowed. "Maybe I was wrong. You might not be one of us. Gandora are NEVER weak." Yugi ignored the dragon's growl and continued to work at freeing Hakairyuu. Silent had stopped working and was glancing worriedly between Giga and the human, but when Yugi needed help again she immediately jumped in.

Just then Yugi met the crimson eyes of Hakairyuu, she looked confused and most of all, scared.

"No, you…you" She started to say.

"Don't worry, we are getting you free," Yugi said.

"No! Leave me, it's going to make things so much…worse." She trailed off into a whisper as the mob's eyes seemed to trap her.

It was then Giga got a twisted smile, a smile that showed all his razor-sharp teeth in the worst light. He crossed his arms once again and stared down Yugi. "If you truly are one of us, you'll stab that sword in her neck," Giga growled in his lowest voice. This got both Yugi and Silent to freeze in place. The other dragons felt just as paralyzed as gasps spread around the crowd.

"No." Yugi simply said, not even turning to the large dragon. His word ending any chance of that happening then and there.

"Then you are not one of us!" Giga roared as he took a step back. "Those that aren't with us are against the Gandora!" Silent soundlessly screamed as she saw him unhinge his jaw and a brighter light than even Hakairyuu's beam began to build in his throat. Yugi turned just in time to see that there was no way they would get out of its destructive path in time.

The rock pile behind them began to move. The two turned to see Hakairyuu standing up, pushing off the stones and equaling Giga's height. The lead Gandora wasn't stopping his beam. In a blink of an eye, Hakairyuu scooped up Yugi, Silent, and Kuriboh and spread her wings. She plowed into Giga with what strength she had left and ran past him while he was off balance. She charged right through the crowd, everyone still being frozen in place. Then the horrid red beam shot out of Giga's maw, blasting many Gandora in its path. Hakairyuu took a page out of Yugi's book and used one of the Gandora that was leaning on Giga earlier as a jumping off point. She leaped over the beam and used the warm air it generated by opening her large bat-wings. Her wings picked up the new wind and she started flying up the mountain, leaving the Gandora far behind.

Yugi could only stare at the disappearing Gandora as they grew smaller behind high mountain clouds. He turned to see Silent trying to wiggle out of the Gandora's grip but to no avail. Soon enough, however, Hakairyuu found a cave much higher up the mountain and just about threw the three into it. She then sat at the entrance of the cave and snapped at anyone that came within ten feet of her. She wouldn't move and the others couldn't get around her. They were trapped by their savior.

The entire time Hakairyuu was repeating to herself. "What have I done? What have I done?"


	7. Yeah, I Possessed your Grandson

Solomon Sr. was patient, very patient. Yami supposed that trait is what made him both a good gambler and a great archeologist. All three teens were thankful for that characteristic as Solomon happily waited on a bench in the new duel monsters exhibit as they talked around the corner.

"So, we ARE gonna tell him?" Joey asked, eyes shifting in disbelief from Solomon to Yami.

"We might as well. I've always gotten the feeling that Yugi's grandpa suspected something. Making up lies would only make him more suspicious." Téa said.

Yami silently nodded his head. If he was going to come forward it would be best to start with the most accepting member of the family.

"Ok, but how much do we tell?" Joey asked.

"Everything," Yami stated.

"Everything?!" Both Téa and Joey gawked.

"Even the shadow games and magic?" Joey asked.

"Including the multiple times you, and by extension Yugi, have almost been killed?" Téa added.

Yami once again nodded as he crossed his arms. His gaze fell to the ground as the memories he had been trying to suppress earlier today came flooding back. "He'll understand. He was there for the Death-T games and in spirit during Duelist Kingdom. He even caught me a few times sneaking into the shop at night… back then." Both Joey and Téa shrunk back when they realized what "back then" was referring to. The first seven months of the spirit's rebirth was sometimes just as terrifying to them as it was to the bullies. It had been a silent pact between the group to never bring up that time again unless it was mentioning friendship.

"Y-You want to even explain… Dat?!" Joey yelped. Their near-constant exclamations earned them dirty looks from bystanders and museum workers. One old lady even came up and told them to shush. The three grimaced after she left and couldn't find the courage to face each other again for a few seconds.

"Yes. I want to explain everything…" Yami paused and collected his strength. "…I met Tetsu today."

"Ushio?" Joey nearly yelled before he caught himself.

"Yes. From what I saw, he and probably many others are healing. If we want to prove to Yugi's family that I'm not dangerous, we'll have to be honest about everything. Including my… rocky start." Yami said, looking back up to his friends. The two found they had nothing to say, or more, they couldn't say anything. This was Yami's decision, they just had to be there to back him up. They couldn't do any less as his friends.

…

Solomon Sr. pulled out his camera and took a picture of the fragment with Yugi's ancient likeness on it. On his lap was a notepad that he had written the museum's description of the item on. He was taking all the notes he could, a left-over habit from his archeology days. He always did this when he knew something big was coming.

When the three teens finally came towards him, Solomon smiled, noting that his disposition was quite different from the three's grim faces. It was like they were walking to the hangman's noose.

"You know what's interesting about this artifact, other than it has a version of my grandson on it?" Solomon asked. The three stopped, clearly surprised that he talked so nonchalantly. "There was another piece to it. On it depicted an additional door and an extra person beside that door. Apparently, that person was a green-haired girl with a fairy-like dragon surrounding her. But that part was stolen in the transportation process. So, we're stuck with only this." He said as he gestured to the stone that hung on the wall. "I wonder what this picture represents that's so important?"

Both Joey and Téa turned to face the rock, but the one that looked like Yugi kept his eyes on the old man. Solomon Sr. kept his smile up and patted the space next to him on the bench. The teen then sighed and took his seat. He sat much straighter than Yugi ever did, much stiffer too like he was being judged for his grace in sitting. Solomon made a small note on his notebook about that. He had other notes on this boy too, like the fact he was taller than his Yugi. He had always noticed the height discrepancy on TV during televised duels, but he thought it had been a simple trick of the camera.

"You… must have a lot of questions." The boy said. There was another difference. This boy had a much deeper, more powerful voice than little Yugi's. A thing Solomon and the rest of the family had thought Yugi only did in duels to make himself seem stronger.

"…I do, but only one needs to be answered right now. Who are you?" Solomon slowly said, making sure the boy heard every word. The teen closed his eyes and breathed out, much like Yugi used to do when he was in trouble.

"I am not Yugi. That is something I had to spend almost a year figuring out."

"Are you another personality?" Solomon asked. It was only his well-trained poker face that stopped him from showing how terrified he really was of the coming answer. Its ramifications were something he and Yui had argued over many a dark night.

"… No, I am a completely different spirit from Yugi. I'm from the puzzle."

Solomon leaned back and let out a deep breath. Ancient spirits he could deal with. Getting an exorcism for Yugi seemed much easier than an entire life's worth of therapy if it was the other answer.

"He's an ancient Pharaoh! And not just another personality dat thinks it's a pharaoh, we swear!" Joey just had to blurt out. Téa elbowed him hard, wanting to let Yami explain things at his own pace. Joey grumbled, but realized his friend's reasoning and shut his mouth. Solomon grinned at the familiar interaction between the two, this somehow helped ground him at that moment. His eyes then moved from Yugi's friends to this new person to the side of him.

'No, not a new person.' Solomon thought. Then he said out loud, "I've met you before."

The spirit slowly nodded. "Yes, four years ago. Back then I-"

"No, even before Yugi put the puzzle together. When I first found the puzzle box in the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb." Solomon said. The spirit titled his head and furrowed his brows. His violet eyes shined with the same vibrant life that Yugi's eyes had, the same light that used to glow in Solomon's own younger eyes.

"I-I don't remember that. I admit however, I don't remember a great many important things." The spirit said in an almost ashamed voice.

It was then Téa and Joey found benches near the two and sat down. Solomon turned to each one and looked them over. Each nodded to him, showing their silent support for their friend.

"Ok, then start with what you can remember," Solomon said as he put a comforting hand on the spirit's shoulder. The spirit turned away, its gaze falling on the ancient depiction of what Solomon could only guess to be the Millennium Puzzle.

"My first real memory honestly makes me sick now. It's one of pride…"

…

It was done, everything had been laid bare and couldn't be taken back. Solomon Sr. knew and Yami couldn't hide anymore. He could only hope he had done the right thing in revealing himself. This usually would be something he'd have debated with Yugi over, never hinting a thing without his partner's full consent. That couldn't happen now.

"Hmm." Solomon sighed as he leaned back, looking up into the high ceiling.

"It's the truth, Mr. Muto," Yami said.

"Everything, from Seto Kaiba having green hair at one time to Dartz's takeover," Joey added.

"I know it seems hard to believe. I even had problems at the beginning trusting my own eyes. If you need more testimonies, we have others we can call." Téa suggested. Solomon acknowledged her but said nothing. His eyes were only on Yami. Yami in return only looked down at the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. Solomon's eyes then dangerously narrowed as he set his jaw, this was closest to intimidating the three had ever seen Yugi's grandpa.

"I'll have your word, here and now Spirit. Have you at any time, past or present, wanted to hurt my grandson?" He said in a voice so stern, Yami could have thought it the old man's own pharaoh voice.

"No! Never!" Yami immediately answered, not a second of hesitation. He dropped the puzzle and looked Solomon right in the eyes. "Since the moment I've awoken, all I've wanted to do is protect Yugi. I have only ever once diverted from that goal and that was when I was under the effects of the Seal of Orichalcos." Yami admitted, guilt clear on his face.

Everyone held their breath as Solomon once again fell silent, much like he had done their entire explanation. Then, he nodded with an affirmative grunt.

"All right then, it's decided. Welcome to the family Nameless Pharaoh. You are now my grandson too." Grandpa grinned as he crossed his arms.

The apologies Yami had prepared died away in a single breath. In fact, his breath seemed to disappear too at those words. All that came out of the usually composed pharaoh was a strangled gurgle. Both Joey's and Téa's mouths fell open as they too stared at Grandpa. This made the old man laugh a hearty belly laugh.

"Well don't look so shocked, I promise being an official Muto isn't as terrifying as it looks." Grandpa chortled.

Yami managed to shut his gaping mouth. After watching Grandpa for a few more seconds, trying to find any sign that this was some sort of bad joke, Yami smiled too. His first easy, completely honest smile since Yugi left.

"Tha-Thank you, Grandpa." Yami grinned.

"Oh, don't thank me yet. First, we have to find Yugi before we can rightly get to know each other." Grandpa said as he picked up his yellow notepad and flipped to a new page. "Repeat to me how Yugi disappeared again, then tell me what has been done to find him," Grandpa asked as he clicked open his pen.

"We were opening a new booster pack when a card began glowing red. The light enveloped us and I was left in the body with his soul gone." Yami said with a sad shrug. "I wish there was more to tell, but that's it. I can't even find the glowing card."

"We called everyone that usually gets involved in these things, but nothing's new with them," Téa said.

"We asked the Ishtars, but dey have yet to get back to us," Joey added.

"The family that lives in Egypt, right? The three that were raised in your tomb?" Grandpa asked.

"Yes, we asked them since it was required growing up that they know all prophecies regarding me," Yami said, a bit of his shame returning. He still hadn't quite gotten over the fact people were forced to spend their whole lives underground and away from society for him.

"…You said Battle city started for you because you saw your history on an ancient slab of stone. This stone in front of us wouldn't happen to be that, would it?" Grandpa asked, still writing down everything.

"No, that stone is in Egypt. It's the stone I have to present the Egypt God Cards to so I can start the process of regaining my memories. That's the whole reason Yugi was planning on going to Egypt in two weeks." Yami explained. "This item in front of us is… entirely new to me."

"Ahh, I always thought it was odd Yugi wanted to so suddenly drop everything and spend his college savings on going to Egypt. Now I have my answer I suppose." Grandpa quietly chuckled as he wrote. He then turned the pages back to his notes on the duel monster artifact. "Hmm. Part of this artifact's description says, 'the prehistoric Atlantean words beside the pictures loosely translates to Duel Spirit Heroes.' Does that ring a bell for any of you?" Grandpa asked. All three shook their heads as Grandpa sighed and wrote something else in his notepad.

"Hey! Don't duel spirits need Duel Monster cards to come to this word or somthin' like dat? Was Yugi maybe taken by some card spirit?" Joey asked.

Yami paused but eventually shook his head. "They do but… Once they get into this world, they can't actually affect anything without a hologram body or power from a human partner. Even then I'm fairly sure I would have seen a creature come out, instead of a ray of light."

As Yami fell quite again, Grandpa reached into his pocket and pulled out his deck. "Duel spirits huh? Does every card have a spirit? Can we maybe talk to them about it?" He asked.

"No, well… almost. It's only monster cards that can have spirits and even then, it's extremely rare for them to want to come to our world. If we include all of Yugi's cards and every card in the shop, only three of them have spirits that I've seen." Yami explained.

"Have any of these spirits talked to you since Yugi disappeared?" Téa asked.

"No, not even Kuriboh." Yami realized.

Everyone froze for a moment as they let that sink in. The silence was then only broken by a call on Téa's cellphone.

"It's my parents." She sighed. She flipped her phone open and answered. The next few minutes were filled with her profusely apologizing. The entire time the boys worriedly glanced to each other as they heard Mrs. Gardner's angry voice. Once the call ended and Téa closed her phone, she let her head fall into her hands. "They're going to kill me." She whispered.

"What happened?" Yami asked.

"It's nothing big. Don't worry about it. What was this about not talking to duel spirits?" Téa tried to wave it away.

"That didn't sound like nothing," Grandpa said.

Téa's cheek turned red as she looked back up at her friends. "Turns out calling another country is really expensive on my parents' phone plan, especially when someone in Egypt tries to call us," Téa admitted.

"Oh dear, didn't think of that when you called earlier today did you?" Grandpa chuckled as he got up, Yami quickly mimicked him and got to his feet.

"No, but the good news is that the Ishtars tried to call back. That might mean they found something." Téa said to try and cheer herself up.

"Don't fret about it Téa. We'll help pay for the phone bill if your parents want, I'll even help explain that it was an emergency." Joey said, both Grandpa and Yami readily agreed.

"Thanks, guys, but how are we going to call them back? My parents won't let me make that far distance of a call again."

Joey shrugged "I'd offer mine if I could, but Dad and I have hard enough time payin' the phone bill when we call within our own country."

"Don't worry about it," Grandpa said. "I call Egypt all the time to get in contact with my old betting- I mean archeology buddies. We can use our phone." Grandpa explained as he started heading out of the museum, the teens following quickly behind.

…

While the fact Yami hadn't seen any duel spirits lately was worrying, it wasn't like the group could get any new information from that train of thought. So, they choose to wait on discussing that until they talked to the Ishtars.

As the group walked back to the Muto house, Joey and Téa stayed a few steps back from Yami and Grandpa. Yami could see what they were doing. While it was nice for them to let him have alone time with his new "grandfather," he really wished that they wouldn't. Although Grandpa seemed to accept him, this was still a completely new situation to the spirit. He never had to make friends with someone on his own without first using a duel to break the ice. Yami knew he couldn't stay quiet, he had to say something, but what to even start with?! Yami stood tall and decided to begin with one of his favorite topics.

"…Thank you." Yami eventually said.

"For what? For believing you? Trust me, I should be thanking you. This answers so many questions and suspicions I had." Grandpa responded.

"No, not just for that. Thank you for being there for Yugi when I couldn't." This got Grandpa to stop in place and turn to Yami. Both Joey and Téa stopped too, but they pretended to be interested in a KaibaCorp helicopter flying over.

"What do you mean? That's literally my job as a grandpa, no need for thanks." Grandpa asked.

"I know but… Yugi's always needed someone to be there for him. Before me or his friends he only had you and his mother. I just wanted to thank you for taking care of him so I could get the chance to know him. That fact has saved the world many times over." Yami said. His words felt awkward, stilted, and not near enough to actually convey his feelings. It felt sappy, but Yami didn't know how else to say it. The words seemed to have the effect he wanted though, as Grandpa grew another big smile.

"Well, you're welcome. Raising Yugi has been one of my life's greatest achievements, I will always be proud of how he turned out… But I wasn't the only one Yugi could rely on. Even though he was not physically there, my son was also always by his side." Grandpa said.

Yami's back immediately stiffened, and he could tell Grandpa was watching for such a response. The old man undoubtedly brought up Junior just to see Yami's reaction. The Pharaoh sighed as he and Grandpa started walking again.

"I'm sure you can tell, but I don't have the highest regards towards that man."

"I could tell, not just from here, but the fact he wasn't with you when you walked into the museum. What happened? Did he not take your existence well?"

"No, no. He has no clue, and… I think that angers me more. I don't even act like Yugi around him and he doesn't notice, doesn't question it. He's a coward." Yami spat out. He then looked worriedly to Grandpa, realizing he just insulted the man's only son, but the elderly man only solemnly nodded.

"He noticed a difference, we all did. He probably didn't bring it up because he wants to please you. Not many people jump to the conclusion that a spirit has taken over their son's body." Grandpa said. "Yui and I also kept our worries about Yugi's mental health from him. We didn't want to open a floodgate before we had all the information."

Yami nodded, but the annoyance in his chest didn't go away. Grandpa then continued.

"To the coward comment, I can understand how you could feel that. It's the mistake many people make on first meeting him. But believe me when I say my son is probably one of the bravest people I've ever met." Grandpa said with surprising conviction. This made Yami stop in his tracks again. He turned to find that Solomon had a much more serious expression on his face.

"Really?" Yami asked, seeing that this wasn't just fatherly pride talking.

"Of course, not many people can admit to being trapped by years of their own life choices and actually do something about it. Much less if change involved double-crossing someone like Gozaburo Kaiba. Yet he did, for his family, for Yugi."

Yami found his mouth drying. Behind, he could tell even the eavesdropping Joey and Téa were shocked. However, before either could ask for clarification, Yugi's cell phone went off.

Its ringtone made Yami jump, his nerves still being on edge. He just about dropped the thing as he pulled it out of his pocket. The number said it was the Muto landline calling and Yami knew he needed to answer it. He tried to flip the phone open like Téa's device, but it wasn't moving. Grandpa then saw the number and took the phone. He simply pushed a button and put it to his ear.

"Yes? What is it? She's what! Ok, you get her to the Saga and White Hospital on Forty-Second Street ok? Remember, Saga and White. We'll take a cab and meet you there. Don't waste time locking up the store, I'll send someone over." Grandpa then hung up the phone and turned back to the group with wide, worried eyes.

"Yui just had another seizure and it caused her to fall down the stairs. My son is taking her to the hospital and we have to go." Grandpa said. He then pointed to Téa and Joey. "You two, go back to my shop and call those tomb keepers. Find out what you can about Yugi. Grandson, you come with me. This won't be the right time to tell the rest of the family about you yet, so keep acting for now." He ordered.

Everyone immediately split and went their different ways, no questions or hesitation. As the two Mutos ran down the street, Yami stayed as close as he could with the racing Solomon.

"What is wrong with Yugi's mother?" Yami asked.

"It's her condition, it happens often but that doesn't mean it's any less dangerous. Just focus on getting a cab for now," Grandpa said as he wildly waved his arms to any passing yellow cars. No one was stopping. Then Yami stepped up to the curb and slightly stuck out his hand. A cab immediately stopped.

"Whoa! Are you the King of Games?!" the driver asked.

"Yes, now get us to the hospital!" Yami ordered as the two hopped in the taxi.


	8. I Feel Like A Snake Should Have Appeared

**A/N: I'm sorry but I have to return to releasing chapters every two weeks. Exams and school reports are coming up for me so I won't be able to get chapters in the condition I want them in with only a week's time. I will try to return to the one week schedule in the summer.**

**Also, to publicly answer a question I got in a comment and in a PM. This started as sort of a prequel to my other fic "The Zero Reverse Event." As time went on however, the two became separated, stand-alone stories. So while the two are separate stories now, most of my interpretation of the Yugioh characters and timelines are the same between the two.**

They were trapped in a cave by an angry dragon. Yugi had played many scenarios like this in video games and tabletop games, but he had never dealt with it so literally. He, Silent Magician, and Kuriboh (still in the bag) backed up slowly from the cave entrance. The Gandora stayed by the opening, growling at anything and everything.

Silent Magician pulled on Yugi's shirt. He slowly turned, always keeping an eye on the dragon, and saw the mage's worried expression. She didn't have the magic to write it but Yugi could translate well enough.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of here," Yugi whispered. He then turned around to see the back of the cave. The cave wasn't very big, only just tall enough for the dragon to crouch down and only long enough for them to give her twenty feet of space. If she lashed out there was nowhere to run.

Yugi then looked back to the still growling dragon, but it wasn't the threatening rumble that caught his attention this time. It was the dragon's eyes. There was no hate or bloodthirst in those eyes. It was an expression Yugi had seen often, the eyes of someone too tired and too confused to even notice that they were on the brink of collapse.

Yugi swallowed hard and slowly raised his hands. The dragon's growls turned into a snarl as he moved. Then, she stopped altogether when she saw him in slow, exaggerated movements, unbuckle his sword and bag and place them on the floor. Yugi then looked back up at the dragon and made sure she watched as he pulled Kuriboh out of the bag. He then turned away, leaving the sword and sack in the middle of the cave. Silent Magician soundlessly yelped, but the beast didn't attack when Yugi turned his back to her. Instead, she gawked at the sword laying on the ground, her crimson eyes wide.

"Hey Silent, there's water trickling out of this rock here. You think it's drinkable?" Yugi called over. Silent Magician just about jumped at his voice. She quickly faced him, clearly not believing he was thinking of water at a time like this. Yugi then let his body language talk for him. His slumped shoulders and lopsided smile said all he needed. He, like the Gandora, was too tired.

A sort of silent truce was made. If they stayed on one side of the cave, the Gandora remained on the other. Yugi's sword representing the midway point. Things managed to become somewhat peaceful as the hours went by. Each resting from a hard-fought day. However, if anyone dared move near the sword or exit, the dragon snapped at them. It was warning snaps, but the harsh crack that echoed around the cave when her jaws shut made her point clear. They could not leave.

Yugi tried talking with the Gandora. First asking important questions like why her species was invading, then resorting to silly conversation starters like favorite colors. In the end, all he got was more growls. Eventually, he gave up and focused on talking with Silent Magician and Kuriboh (or he talked and the others pantomimed). As the three spoke the dragon either surveyed the skies or focused on them. She always tried to hide the fact she was watching them, but Yugi and the others could sense when her eyes were on them. She never spoke, only snapped and growled. This left one unspoken question hanging in the air above the group. Why had this Gandora saved them and why wouldn't she let them leave?

…

Outside the cave, the sun was still shining, as it never moved, but there was a change in the air. It was what duel monsters in this domain called night. Every creature here got a sudden need to close their eyes, and it was a powerful urge. Dark Magician Girl had explained it to Yugi before he left the castle. While it didn't affect himself, he could still sense the difference. The air seemed to get lighter as a cool wind blew by. The dank cave smell was replaced with the scent of a summer's evening in the country. It would have been truly relaxing… if the scent wasn't multiplied ten times over. It was like someone had taken a concentrate of the perfect evening and sprayed it all in Yugi's face. This pungent relaxant made him gag. Silent Magician, still worried about his unhealed wounds, pulled on his shirt to ask if he was ok.

"It's fine, just this night air." Yugi wheezed.

Silent Magician was concerned for her friend's well-being, but her eyelids were drooping even as she tried to help him. Kuriboh was no help either as the little monster was out as soon as the scent wafted by. The puffball had curled up next to Yugi and Silent Magician found herself doing the same to Yugi's other side. She tried to fight it so he wouldn't be left alone, but she could do little as her head seemed gravitated to the floor.

"Wow, they fell asleep fast," Yugi said to himself. This got another rumble from the Gandora. Yugi turned to see the dragon clearly fighting the need to sleep too. She, however, was more successful than the others as she managed to stay upright with eyes open. She shook her head vigorously and when she stopped, she ended up staring right at Yugi. Earning him another growl.

"It's fine. There's no need for such language." Yugi half-heartedly responded. He had given up on talking to her hours ago, but he still tried to say something to her whenever she looked his way. "I'm just talking to myself. Though, I suppose I've been doing that the last few hours huh?" Yugi said offhandedly as he returned his gaze to his silent friends.

The Gandora kept staring, clearly confused. "Was… was that a joke?" She asked. This made Yugi sit up straighter. This had been the first time the dragon had actually responded to him all day.

'Maybe this is her way of staying awake?' Yugi guessed to himself, then said out loud. "I suppose it was, though it wasn't a very good joke, I'll give you that." Yugi tried, keeping his arms out wide to show no hostility. She looked at him as if he had been speaking gibberish. He even began to worry that maybe she didn't speak English that well, when her eyelids started sliding down again. She immediately fought the slumber and even began banging her head against the ceiling.

"Woah, Woah! You're going to bring the place down on us. You don't need to fight sleep!" Yugi yelled. The dragon stopped and snorted. She clearly wanted to stand but the cave was much too short.

"I don't enjoy this world forcing me to rest." She huffed.

"Oh, I can see that… Isn't sleep always beyond our control though? I know a few people that would never sleep if they had the ability." Yugi said, more wanting to keep a conversation up with the dragon than any real question.

"Hrumph. Having the choice taken away because 'a full eight hours is healthy' is... demeaning." She grumbled.

"So, other lands don't have this sleep rule?" Yugi asked.

"Of course not!" The dragon stated as she slammed her fist down on the ground, turning a flawless boulder to dust. She then looked down at the pebbles between her claws. "I should have expected this from such a 'perfect' land, I suppose." The word 'perfect' rolled off her tongue as if it was some foul curse.

"Why are you here then if you don't like it?" Yugi had to ask. The expected snarl soon followed with the Gandora even lunging at him.

"Don't question us little pharaoh! You barely understand the world as it is. Don't stick your tail into traps you can't pull it out of." She snarled as she turned away.

Yugi sat back, trying to take in what she said. Eventually, he let out a long breath that blew his now messy bangs out of his eyes. He just didn't know what to do. First these powerful dragons get into the domain even though there's a barrier, second the Legendary Knights go AWOL, then he's teleported here, and now this Gandora. She seemed just as destructive as all the other dragons, even being one of the biggest. Yet, the others abused her and even wanted her dead for losing. And what was that about Giga saying the two of them could be mates again if she beat Yugi?

'This is one tricky puzzle.' Yugi thought to himself as he rested his chin in his hand, making the Millennium Puzzle jangle slightly around his neck. Yugi then suddenly felt a lonely pang in his stomach. He really missed everyone, his family, friends, the Pharaoh. Things had been going by so fast that he didn't have time to really think about them until this moment. They would have helped him figure this out. They would know what to do. Where were they now anyway?

'Probably looking for me. They must be worried sick.' Yugi thought. He could see everyone coming together to get him back like they had done when he was taken by Dartz. Even his dad and mom getting involved this time. That thought made Yugi slightly smile. He had always dreamed of his family finally meeting all his friends, and he meant all his friends.

Yugi had wanted to tell his family about his adventures and friendship with the Pharaoh for years now, but it had never been the right time. Their trip to California had been the closest the two came to telling the family thanks to their family friend, Arthur Hawkins, being kidnapped. Then the duel in the desert happened.

Another thought then shot through Yugi. This idea made ice replace the lonely pang. What if the Pharaoh blamed himself again for Yugi's disappearance? What if he shut down? What if Yugi didn't get back in time and the Pharaoh didn't go to Egypt. Ishizu had said the door the Egyptian God cards would open wouldn't stay unlocked long. What if his dearest friend missed his chance, forever? This thought terrified him more than any angry dragon mob ever could.

Another growl rang through the cave, but this time it wasn't from Gandora. The dragon twisted her head around to see Yugi clutching his stomach. Her teeth were bared, but that disappeared when she realized Yugi was hungry.

"Sorry, I haven't had anything to eat since this morning." Yugi tried to smile, but it came out more like a wince. He had to make himself focus on the present instead of the nightmare in his head.

The Gandora looked him over, her eyes scrutinizing him. "You eat fruit?" she said in a low voice. Yugi raised an eyebrow as he looked up at the dragon. "Do, you, eat, fruit?" She repeated in a growl.

"Fruit? Ah, yes! I do." Yugi stuttered.

"Fine, I'll go get some. You stay." She said as she shakily got to her feet. The cave made her bend low and the sleep she was still fighting made her bend lower, but she eventually climbed out and up the mountain.

"Hey, wait!" Yugi called. From keeping them trapped all day to so quickly leaving them alone was quite the whiplash. Yugi originally thought she had trapped them so she had bargaining chips if Giga or the others came. That idea fell apart when she wanted to leave to feed him. That gave him an easy chance to escape. Maybe she thought since he couldn't safely move his sleeping friends he wouldn't risk escaping? She would be correct, but that reasoning didn't quite feel right to him.

Yugi didn't want to linger on his fears for the Pharaoh and he needed more pieces of this strange puzzle he found himself in. This alone time with the sedated dragon might be his only chance. As Yugi got up, he looked back at his two companions still sleeping soundly. He had to hope that any enemies would also be asleep too. He checked them over one more time and ran after the dragon.

When Yugi got outside, he looked up the mountain to see the Gandora trudging up a small path. This path was near vertical in some places, but it eventually led into a group of trees growing straight out of the rock. Yugi immediately began to follow the best he could. As he climbed, the burn on his back that he had gotten from the she-dragon earlier began to scream. He had Silent Magician look at it when she was still awake, but she couldn't do much for it. What was strange was even with the burn on his skin, the attack didn't seem to affect his clothes. Yugi should say, weird to him, Silent Magician thought nothing of it. He had to shake it off as another weird quirk of this world and kept going.

"I said stay!" The Gandora growled once she noticed the human following her.

"Are you going to stop me?" Yugi asked, making sure to not have it sound like a challenge. The dragon turned back to him with nothing but a scowl. Yugi could tell she was barely fighting sleep as it was. She wouldn't waste time grabbing him.

"I know you're hurt. You may have hidden your real pain from your comrades but I can see it clearly." The Gandora said. Yugi kept climbing.

"I know your hurt too, probably much more," Yugi responded. "Why else aren't you flying right now?" He could hear the dragon growl in frustration, but she didn't stop. Yugi grimaced at the pain, but he forced it into a smile as he followed after her. He had been climbing mountains all day and his muscles were blaring that fact to him. At least on this path, he could walk occasionally, but still. This day had been the most he had walked since being stranded in the desert.

"How far are we going?" Yugi managed to ask in-between gasps.

"It's just up here." The Gandora called back. She was thankfully right as when the ground leveled off, Yugi found a tiny grove of perfect trees with one enormous central tree. This center tree had branches that stretched higher than even the dragon. Its many leaves were pure white and seemed to glow. Sprinkled amongst its branches were humongous, peach-shaped fruit just as angelic as the leaves. This was all made better by a deep shadow cast over the grove by the mountain's shadow. While the sun was still in the sky, it truly felt like night here.

"Wow." Yugi gawked as he circled around the tree, amazed at its beauty.

"Well, get your fruit since you were so insistent on coming here." The Gandora said as she crossed her arms. Yugi had to crane his neck to be able to see the lowest fruit. This time he didn't hide his grimace as he thought about more climbing. He then looked to the dragon. She was still watching him, not moving.

"Can you help me?" Yugi asked. The dragon's only answer was a snort.

Yugi knew he couldn't climb anymore, but he was starving. He looked around his feet for a solution. The fruit in this tree was about as big as his head so he didn't think he was strong enough to knock them down. He then noticed silver ivy growing up the tree. He went up to the plants and tried to pull a length off. It was then he saw that this ivy had the occasional sleeping face on it.

"Ivy tokens." Yugi sighed. He was about to put them back when he remembered Dark Magician Girl saying that sleep here was nearly permanent until the eight hours were up. Hopefully, these sleeping tokens wouldn't wake when being tied together and used as a lasso.

The Gandora watched closely as Yugi gently tied the tokens together (making sure not to break their plant skin) and with surprising grace, pulled down a low hanging fruit. Before he ate, he went about untying the ivy and putting them back on the tree, taking extra time to make sure no one was hurt. Yugi was shocked when the Gandora nodded at him.

'Is she studying me?' His stomach cut that thought short. He finally plopped down and took a big bite out of the white fruit.

As soon as his teeth broke the skin its angelic glow disappeared. Yugi stopped for a moment worried that this was the sign of an attack or trap, but the taste of the fruit made him brave enough to finish the bite. The fruit was like candy; every bite being the pinnacle of sweetness. Yugi didn't think any plant life could be as amazing as this. But of course, like everything in this land, it tasted too good. As Yugi ate he couldn't help but think he really was eating artificial candy. While it was delicious, it left a waxy feeling in his mouth and stomach he didn't think would be leaving anytime soon. His awkward state must have been clear on his face since the Gandora actually chuckled.

"You find it weird too?" She asked. Yugi, shocked at any levity from the dragon, stared at her. This made her step back, she was about to bare her teeth again when Yugi realized his surprise might be read as a threat. He quickly wiped his mouth on his arm and smiled.

"Um yes. I suppose it's because I'm a human, but this fruit… No. This entire land feels odd to me." Yugi said. Then quickly added. "Not that I'm ungrateful for the food."

The Gandora sighed in relief, surprising Yugi more as she sat down next to him (still keeping her distance, however). "It's not only humans, but it's also weird for everyone. This land was rumored to be perfect, something all the other warring lands strived to eventually become. But when we migrated here, we weren't expecting it to be so…"

"Unnerving?" Yugi asked. The Gandora nodded and Yugi grinned. "Finally! Someone else gets it. I've wanted to ask Silent Magician about this but I felt like I would be insulting her home. No matter how beautiful everything is, it's equally skin-crawling." Yugi said. The Gandora echoed her agreement. "Even this tree is slightly freaking me out. Its beauty is terrifying. I feel like angels are going to come down from on high and smite me for eating this fruit." Yugi joked as he gestured to the tree.

The Gandora looked at the tree, then to Yugi. "I can fix that." She said. Yugi paused in confusion. Then, the dragon turned and smashed her head into the tree's trunk. A branch crashed off from the tree's top and hit her squarely in the head. The entire tree shook as the ivy tokens also fell off. They all woke up enough to squeal and limp away with their vine-like limbs before falling asleep again. Yugi winced as they ran.

"What are you-?!" Yugi began before he saw her red orbs spark. The light left just as quickly as it came, however, as the beast then punched the trunk. This left an oozing gash in the tree.

"I've been meaning to do that." The Gandora said. She was still fighting sleep and to help, she started doing push-ups.

"Why?!" Yugi yelped as he got to his feet. The Gandora seemed confused at his outrage.

"Doesn't it look better now?" She asked.

"No, it's- Do you Gandora have to destroy everything-?!" Yugi then looked at the tree again. The gash was big but superficial. The tree would live with nothing but a scar to show for the experience. However, even with its new wound, the ethereal beauty remained. Its unnerving quality was gone.

"Just one flaw is all it takes. Shouldn't a creature have the right to make their home comfortable?" She said.

"That's fine and all, but your kind have taken it too far when you hurt others. There are many refugees because of the Gandora 'making yourselves comfortable.' Monsters lost their homes! They got injured!" Yugi shot back. The Gandora grumbled but didn't take her focus off of her workout.

"They only got hurt because they attacked us. Just ask the 'great' leader Dark Magician Girl. She was the first to attack and in turn, feel Giga's wrath." She said in a condescending voice like she was explaining simple math to a child.

"Dark Magician Girl would never do something like that. I don't know the whole situation, but I know Dark Magician Girl. She would have never attacked without provocation."

"We did nothing to deserve her anger."

"Breaking into this domain and tearing stuff up seems like a good reason."

The dragon's crimson eyes stared Yugi down, making sure she had his full attention. "I walked in." This got Yugi to stop in mid-breath.

"I'm sorry?"

"I walked into this domain, like any other monster."

Yugi paused, something in the dragon's eyes told him that this was the truth, but not all of it. This completely shook up the puzzle and sent its pieces flying.

"But… no strong monster can come in here. This place, unnerving as it is, is a refuge from fighting. You Gandora seem to only want to cause more trouble." Yugi tried, the Gandora only laughed.

"I thought you were smarter. When you didn't stab my neck when Giga asked, I thought you got it. I must have been overestimating your intelligence." She said with a tail flick.

Yugi gritted his teeth but knew it was no use, he was too tired for this kind of arguing. So, he sat back down and started on his fruit again.

It was silent between the two for many moments. Yugi eating and the Gandora trying to keep herself from falling asleep. As Yugi stewed over what the dragon said, one sentence stood out to him. 'When you didn't stab my neck when Giga asked…'

"Giga was your mate?" Yugi decided to begin, trying to get his answer in a roundabout way.

"Why would you care?"

"As you said. I'm not the brightest bulb, but that doesn't mean I don't want to understand what's going on." He casually said. The Gandora remained quiet. Yugi decided to push the conversation. "Your name's Hakairyuu?"

This made the dragon immediately stand. Her wings flared and her fangs ready to bite. "You do NOT get to use that name!" She snapped. It was the Gandora's own tiredness that brought her down this time. She couldn't stand any longer and her legs gave out on her. Yugi quickly fled from the falling dragon. The ground seemed to shake as the falling dragon collided with the rock.

When Yugi turned back, he saw the dragon completely sprawled out in front of him. She struggled to even keep her head up. As she fought, she looked up to the still awake Yugi and sighed.

"Little Pharaoh, you're right. He was my mate and that name is something only he as my mate could call me." She said as she let her chin rest on the ground. Yugi sat back down too. He saw this as his chance and scooted closer to her. She couldn't stop him even if she wanted to.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect," Yugi said. Though with everything he had seen of the bully Giga, he did mean a bit towards him. "By the way, I'm not the Pharaoh. I'm his friend, Yugi."

"Yugi… You can simply call me Gandora."

Yugi moved a little closer. "Well, then Gandora… I should thank you, for saving us back there. I don't know how we would have gotten out if you didn't grab us."

"…"

"If you don't mind me asking. Why did you save us? Did you finally have enough of Giga and the others?" Yugi asked.

"No… I-I don't know why. I was already a weakling to my race when you came in. I blew my chance to fix it and… I guess I couldn't see anyone else die." She said in a whisper of a voice.

Yugi leaned in. He raised his hand to rest it on her neck but he stopped himself. "You don't seem like a weakling. You're bigger than almost all the other Gandora."

"I lost my fighting spirit. As a brood mother, it's my job to protect my hatchlings. When I stopped doing that, I failed them and in turn, everyone."

Yugi had so many responses to that, but he knew he could say none of them. This Gandora society was becoming more and more toxic with every new fact. He needed to know more, but he would have to figure that out later. "…Well, I know it's not much, but you didn't fail us." Yugi smiled.

Gandora could only shift her eyes to look at him. "Why aren't you leaving or attacking? I have nothing left to give you. You gain nothing by staying here." She asked. Her voice was stern, but Yugi could hear a hint of panic. She didn't want him to leave. Keeping him in a cave all day made that pretty clear, but he still couldn't figure out why.

"Why would I attack? I would have nothing to gain from that either." Yugi said. Gandora tried to open her mouth but sleep was taking her fast.

"Why did you keep us in a cave all day?" Yugi asked, not really expecting an answer since she couldn't answer the last question.

"I… I wasn't going to let them take… my hatchling… again…" Gandora trailed off as she finally closed her eyes. Yugi watched as her breath became slow and rhythmic. He then stroked her smooth neck, she didn't so much as flinch. He knew then that she was truly asleep.

Yugi looked around at the grove. He was too tired to go back to the cave and move Silent Magician or Kuriboh. He would have to hope Gandora stayed as sensible as she was this night instead of trapping them again tomorrow.

"Take your hatchling?" Yugi asked the night air. No one responded. He then looked down at the Millennium Puzzle. "I wish I had you here with me to help figure this out." The silence after made his lonely pang returned in full. Now it was a heart encompassing ache.

Yugi looked around one more time before curling up on Gandora. She was warm and marginally softer than the rocky ground. It was better for his burns and sore muscles he told himself. What he actually wanted though, was support. And at that moment, this large, angry dragon seemed the most comforting out of everything. Sleep came for him just as violently as it did the others. He was out as soon as he closed his eyes.

…

As Yugi slept his wounds, burns and torn muscles included, began to melt away. So did the leftover pieces of fruit also melt. Gandora had chosen this tree for a reason. It was a tree that gave back hit points equal to the number of stars a chosen monster had, multiplied by a hundred. As Gandora had hoped, Yugi had unconsciously chosen her. He would be healed fully and that thought is what let her sleep easy for the first time in a long while. She had actually done something right, for once.


	9. That's All We Can Do

Yami had been leaning against the cab window, his head resting on his arm. Beside him, Grandpa was giving the cab driver instructions. Once they were moving in the right direction Grandpa finally sat back and sighed, closing his eyes as he laid against the headrest.

"Is she going to be ok?" Yami asked.

"Yui's strong, she's been through much worse," Grandpa replied, still keeping his eyes close. For many minutes they sat in silence, Grandpa preparing himself for what he was going to see at the hospital and Yami thinking about their last conversation.

'...much less if change involved double-crossing someone like Gozaburo Kaiba. Yet he did, for his family, for Yugi.'

"So Junior really did work for Gozaburo? How have I not heard about this from people like Kaiba?" Yami asked, still looking out the window. He heard as Grandpa immediately sat straighter, he could even feel his eyes on the back of his head.

"…Yes... Junior in his youth was a very… ambitious man. While I didn't like where his path was taking him, I couldn't stop him. He was off in Japan and joined that army soon after my cave-in accident. He came back years later with a wife and as a very different man. As far as I could tell he lived two lives and had two names. One he used with Yui and me, and one he used in his mercenary work. During that time…" Grandpa's gaze fell to the floor as he fidgeted with his old wedding ring. "…He worked very hard to keep those live separate. Because of that when Junior wanted to disappear from that world, he had the means to. Of course, there was a lot of hoops to jump through but at least he could completely abandon one life for another."

"Why though? What was he like? What did he do for Kaiba?" Yami asked. Grandpa remained silent this time and wouldn't talk on the subject again.

…

"I'm sorry I scared you all so much." Yui sighed as the rest of the Muto family surrounded her hospital bed. Junior was sitting beside her, holding her good hand. Her other hand was covered in a cast as she had fractured her wrist falling down the stairs.

"No need to apologize, if anything we should be thankful that this was your only injury," Junior said as he squeezed her hand.

Yui closed her eyes and sighed again. "I just was doing so well. No seizures in almost a year. Then of course, the day you come back I have one. It was probably because of my lack of sleep"

Yami awkwardly stood next to Grandpa, shifting his weight from foot to foot. The pharaoh hardly knew what to say. He knew the seizures themselves usually didn't require medical attention like this, but since her seizures caused her muscles to stiffen, injuries from falling was an often occurrence for her.

"You were lucky that Junior was home," Grandpa said.

"Oh, come now. It wasn't that bad. I could have taken care of myself if I was alone." Yui said indignantly. "But none the less, I'm glad you were there." She said as she used her good hand to pull Junior over to kiss him. Yami didn't know why, but he looked away. It wasn't that the embrace made him uncomfortable. It was more like he felt he didn't belong there. It should have been Yugi in control.

Grandpa nudged Yami in the side, bringing his gaze back to the Muto family. The others had noticed him turn away.

"Embarrassed Yugi?" Yui asked, barely holding back a chuckle. Yami emphatically shook his head but this only seemed to make her smile wider. "Oh, I can fix that." With surprising speed, Yui reached out and yanked Yami's face towards her. She then showered him in a barrage of wet and sloppy kisses.

"Gack!" As the two Solomons did their best to hide their laughter, Yami futilely tried to pull away. For being one handed her hold was inescapable

"Oh, I've missed kissing this cute face." She said between each planted kiss.

"Argh, Mom please!" Yami begged. Finally, she let go and the pharaoh ungracefully fell back. As he wiped his face, he thanked the gods that his friends had gone to the shop instead of following them.

A knock on the door got everyone's attention. A nurse poked her head in and asked for some clarification on the medical record. Junior followed the nurse out so he could see the problem himself. Yami couldn't help but feel relief that Junior left the room.

After Junior left, Solomon and Yui started chatting. Yami was prepared to once again fall silent, being unable to keep up with their conversation in a believably Yugi way. This was where Grandpa came to the rescue. He would often ask Yami questions he knew the pharaoh could answer. Yami was very thankful for the inclusion and happily jumped in when he could. He didn't attempt to hide his voice this time, knowing it to be useless.

"I've been meaning to ask this Yugi. Why are you doing that voice? Are you trying to show off for your Dad?" Yui asked. Yami had been expecting the question (even discussing it with Grandpa in the cab) and smiled as if he was embarrassed.

"I have a cold. It's easier to talk like this for me." He lied.

"In the summer? Wow, we have the worst luck with our sicknesses today." Yui smiled as she gestured to her broken wrist.

"I heard him coughing earlier. He tried to hide it so he could go out with Junior but I caught him." Grandpa added with a sly smile to Yami.

"It's not that bad," Yami said as he rubbed the back of his head. His attempt at trying to sound like Yugi when the boy talked down his injuries.

"Oh, Yugi. How many times do I have to tell you this? Hiding it will only make it worse." Yui sighed as she shook her head.

"Sorry ma'am," Yami said. Yui then gave him a strange look. It was a combination of confusion and recognition. Yami worried for a second that maybe he had said something wrong when she spoke again.

"Is that why your dad came back to the shop without you?" She asked. Her eyes seemed to be boring into him.

"No. My friends were heading to the museum and I followed them. That's where I met Grandpa." Yami explained, knowing full well Yui wouldn't like him leaving Yugi's dad for his friends.

"Really?" She said. As expected Yui's eyes narrowed, it was the same expression that came to her eyes when Yugi's grades were hurting or he chose to go dueling instead of any "useful" hobbies.

"It was a good thing too, or else you would have been home alone during your fall," Grandpa added. Yui nodded to him and was about to say something else when she had another coughing fit. There was nothing the two could do for her so they just had to wait for her to clear her throat.

"True, I just want you to have as much time with your dad as possible. Make time for him, ok?" Yui said.

"Yes, Mom." Yami nodded. Any leftover suspicion Yui had disappeared at the word mom and she returned to chatting with Grandpa.

As the two started talking again, Yami's thoughts fell on something odd he just noticed. When he wasn't focusing on his words, he had no troubles calling Yui mom. If it had been Yugi's dad in the room, he would have called him Junior or not named him at all. At first, Yami thought it might be because he had seen more of Yui these last few years, but that didn't feel right. She had never done anything maternal towards him before today, it had always been Yugi in control during those times. Yet, the word mom came so naturally to his lips when she attacked him earlier. This train of thought eventually chugged to a station Yami tried to rarely focus on, who was his ancient mom? Who was his ancient family?

'Did I even have a family?' Yami asked himself. He strained to pull anything from his forgotten past, but just like every other time all it gave was another headache. Yami then tried to think rationally about this. 'As a pharaoh, I must have. Or how else would I have gotten the throne of Egypt?' Yami chose to ignore the fact that his parents were most likely related and tried to focus on what they would have been like. Were they good rulers? He hoped they were, just as he hoped he was. What was their relationship with him? Were they distant? Being leaders of a whole nation wouldn't leave much time for family. Yami then looked up as Grandpa told a bad joke and Yui playfully slapped him for it. Yami smiled at the scene and hoped his family was at least as loving as Yugi's.

No, he didn't just hope. He knew.

Yami wouldn't call it a memory, but a feeling deep inside. He was indeed loved in the past. But by who he still had no memory. Yami turned towards Grandpa and watched as he chuckled. When he thought of his Egyptian father or grandfather, he felt that love. That feeling disappeared though when he tried to think of a mother or siblings. He also definitely didn't think of Junior when he thought of his father either.

Yui began telling an embarrassing story of Yugi's youth and Yami listened with increasing interest. This had been a memory Yugi aggressively guarded against his probing. Now that he finally got to hear it, he understood why Yugi had guarded it so. That didn't stop him from laughing with the others. Of course, he had to act embarrassed but he didn't mind. As he looked to Yui he could see the true love she had for Yugi, even as another coughing fit racked her body.

'Maybe I can so easily call Yui my mom because I never had one?' Yami thought. He then felt a strange emptiness inside. It was attached to no memories so the pharaoh couldn't call it sadness, but what to call it he had no clue.

Yami was then jerked out of his ponderings by Grandpa's cellphone going off.

"It's the shop. Maybe Yugi's friends are having problems locking up. If you are ok, Yugi and I will go back and check on them." Grandpa said as he got up. Yami quickly followed.

"Ok. I'm pretty sure the hospital's going to let me go today anyway, once they hipe me up on more pain killers that is. We'll be home soon anyway." Yui smiled. "Oh, and Yugi, do get some sleep. If your throat hurts drink some hot lemonade, there's a packet in the pantry. And if you get a fever, I have some medication behind the mirror. Oh! If your cough gets bad you can even use my medicine, but you'll need a different dose…" Yami told her ok over and over but she just kept finding new things to warn him about. Eventually, he and Grandpa just had to close the door on her after another hasty goodbye.

As they walked out of the hospital, they passed Junior. Grandpa explained what was going on and Junior waved them off, saying they could take the car if Grandpa wouldn't mind picking them up later. As he spoke he kept giving quick glances to Yami before hastily looking away. Yami could tell he wanted to also say something to him, but he kept his mouth shut. Yami didn't know if he felt relief at being able to get to his friends faster, or more annoyance at Junior's continued cowardice.

…

"Dat's good. From how frantic you sounded earlier, I thought Yugi's mom was more hurt." Joey said after the two Mutos got back to the shop and explained Yui's situation.

"I didn't know how hurt she was then. I just heard she fell down the stairs and that Junior needed to get to a hospital. My son didn't exactly help with how frantic HE sounded on the phone." Grandpa responded.

"Well, I'm glad she wasn't hurt too badly. We managed to get a hold of the Ishtars while you guys were at the hospital." Téa said as she led the group to the shop's phone. It was off the hook and put in a bowl to amplify the sound somewhat so they could all hear.

"Yami is that you?" They all heard a male voice through the phone.

"Marik?" Yami asked.

"Ah, there you are! Good to hear from you, though I wish it was under better circumstances. We didn't think we'd be talking about ancient prophecies until you came to Egypt." Ishizu's voice came through next.

"Yeah, we all kinda thought dat," Joey said as he pulled up a chair and the others followed his example.

"We've had everything explained to us and we've been scouring our archives. Odion even left for Cairo earlier to look for more information. So far, he's found nothing, but we noticed something on the news we thought Solomon could better explain for us." Marik said.

"Me?" Grandpa asked in surprise.

"Yes, your friend Arthur Hawkins helped put together an exhibit on duel monsters in olden times," Ishizu said.

Téa then spoke. "We've tried to contact him too, but I guess he's in a no-contact zone regarding an archeology dig. Rebecca's doing a summer internship so she wasn't open to talking either."

"Ah, I should have thought to warn you about that. Arthur won't be in a place to answer phone calls for another week. That's why I wanted to go to his exhibit, so I could talk to him about it when he got back from his project." Grandpa explained.

"The exhibit is currently in Domino city, right? Téa and Joey tell me you were there earlier today?" Ishizu said.

"Yes, is this about that tablet with my grandson's likeness on it?"

"Exactly. We do our best to find and know the location of all relics relating to the Pharaoh. We think this one has our answers." Ishizu continued.

"Wait, why didn't you guys tell us about dis tablet earlier? Are dere others dat might have world-ending prophecies on dem?" Joey asked.

"No, err… Not that we know at least. We honestly thought all prophecies had been fulfilled before this point." Marik admitted. "That tablet was found by Arthur's archeology team during your guys' trip to India. When we saw pictures of it we thought it was referring to the Pharaoh saving duel spirits from the Leviathan. We didn't feel the need to open up freshly healed wounds by telling you guys about it."

Yami listened closely and eventually nodded. "You were right to do that, but what about the tablet has changed your minds?"

"Solomon, Téa tells me you wrote down the museum's description of the tablet. It had a translation on it right?" Ishizu asked.

"Uh, right!" Grandpa went fumbling into his pockets and produced his yellow notebook. "Have it right here."

"This is something I noticed when I saw the news report about the exhibit. There is a name over each person depicted on the tablet, right? What is over the picture of the Millennium Puzzle wearer?" Ishizu asked.

"Other than Duel Spirit Heroes?"

"Yes, below that."

"Hrmm, ah! It says the Dragon of… Restoration." Grandpa read. "That almost sounds like one of the first duel monsters Arthur and I found in our search of Egyptian ruins. Though, that one was called the Dragon of Destruction."

"Wait, that name sounds familiar to me too." Yami put in, but he couldn't quite remember where he had heard the name. He looked to Grandpa to see the old man's face suddenly fall. He wasn't frowning, but the way his eyes glazed and his shoulder hunched made Yami worried.

"That… that name has a lot of history for our family." Grandpa said in a low voice. Everyone in the room unconsciously leaned forward, Yami especially. Grandpa saw their unspoken plea for more information, but instead of saying anything he gave a thin-lipped smile. His poker face was back in place and Yami couldn't read anything on his grandfather's face.

"One of the first duel monsters you found? Den why isn't it a card yet? Or do I just not remember it?" Joey asked as he scratched his head.

Grandpa shrugged. "Pegasus did his own research into ancient duel monsters. I guess he didn't think it'd make a good card at the time. It is in circulation now. It's the big black and red dragon advertised with the new packs with the level monsters."

Yami stood straight up, letting his chair fall to the ground in his speed. "The new packs?" He breathed. He then ran up the stairs without another word and barged into Yugi's room. Just as when he left it, the unopened packet was on the floor.

"What are you doing Yami?!" Joey called up.

"Yugi and I were opening a new packet this morning! A packet that has a chance of having this dragon of destruction!" Yami yelled as he picked up the cards. He quickly rifled through them again.

He sighed. 'Just like earlier.' With less urgency, he walked back down the stairs and sat next to Grandpa.

"Well?" Téa asked.

Yami shook his head. "Every packet should have five cards; this only has four and I don't think it was because the pack was tampered with." He said as he crossed his arms. He then turned to the phone.

"That is… That connection with the Dragon of Destruction is… we'll have to remember that." Ishizu said.

"It might just be a coincidence though." Marik put in. "Why we asked for the name was because we wanted to see if it was referring to the Pharaoh. Usually when texts refer to you, no matter the language, they will say some form of 'nameless leader' or 'dark leader' or sometimes just 'dark.' This relic didn't do that. Now Ishizu and I think it might not be the Pharaoh on the tablet. There is now a good chance that it really is Yugi."

The room went silent. Yami felt as everyone's eyes turned to him. His own gaze fell to the ground.

"What else does the tablet say about Yugi?" Yami asked in a low voice.

"Err… Nothing. Just 'Dragon of Restoration' and 'Duel Spirit Heroes.'" Grandpa sighed after flipping through his pages.

"That's all we found too…" Marik said.

"We don't even know if this tablet is referring to this event. As Marik said, it could all be a coincidence." Yami exhaled as he leaned back in his chair. Once again everyone fell silent. Another dead end.

"Hey, that's more then we had this morning though!" Téa said. "So now we know Yugi was prophesized to save duel spirits. He disappeared with a card that might be this dragon of destruction, and duel spirits have been uncharastically silent lately. This is more than we usually have to go on."

Yami couldn't help but smile at Téa's attempt at keeping their morale high. She looked his way and smiled back, a silent thank you and you're welcome between the two.

"And we'll keep searching over here too. We'll call back when we have something more substantial. Don't worry, we're going to get him back." Marik said.

"Feel free to reach out if you have something else too!" Ishizu added. After a few more goodbyes the Ishtars hung up.

"So, what now?" Joey asked.

"I think it's time for you two to go back home. It's getting late." Grandpa said as he pointed outside at the setting sun. The two frowned but nodded, they started to get up when Yami jumped to his feet.

"Wait!" Yami yelped out. Everyone turned in surprise at his panicked voice. "Is... is that all we can really do right now?" Yami asked, quickly regaining his composure. "There has to be more."

Grandpa came to his side and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm worried about Yugi too. Just imagining him alone in some strange location has probably shortened my life by another couple years. But we'll be no good to Yugi if we worry their parents and our family." Grandpa said as he gestured to Téa and Joey. Yami nodded but he didn't feel any better about it. It felt like he was giving up on Yugi for the day.

"Hey Yuge, err… Yam" Joey said. "I understand too. I'd be willin' to run through all of Domino city to find Yugi if I thought it would help. But I can't do anythin' and dat makes me…" Joey's fists clenched into balls. "If I was you, I'd try to talk to dose duel spirits. I know you said dey're not respondin' but make dem respond! If dey know somethin' we have to know too!" He said as he lifted up his fist with his famous Joey grin. Yami looked up to his friend and smiled. Joey nodded back and walked out with his head held high and hands in his pocket.

…

Yami and Grandpa followed the two outside and was waving them off when Grandpa's cellphone went off.

"It's Junior. They probably want to be picked up. I'll take this inside." Grandpa said as he went back to the shop. Yami frowned at the thought of dealing with Junior the rest of the night. Téa must have seen his grimace because she stopped and seemed to fight with herself for a bit. Then she turned around and ran back to Yami.

"Is something wrong?" Yami asked.

"No, it's just… This might not be my place but… I think you should give Junior another chance." Téa said. Yami blinked in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Again, I don't know what happened at the arcade today but… I've known Yugi's Dad since those three moved in with Solomon. While I don't know him well, I don't think he's the type to deserve your… well… I think you're letting out your anger on Yugi going missing on him." She eventually got out.

This surprised Yami even more, so much that he took a step back from Téa. He tried to find something to say but nothing came to his mouth.

"I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have said anything but I don't like seeing you like this." She said. This Yami could respond to.

"Like what?"

"So… annoyed." Téa then shook her head. "Maybe I'm reading too much into this. If he rightfully deserves your anger than let him have it. But I don't want you misdirecting your rage on someone innocent. You know how much that hurts."

Yami's heart constricted at that thought. Oh, he remembered well. Rebecca back during Dartz had been a megaphone to all his worst thoughts. The idea that he might be doing that to someone else, even if it seemed as justified as Junior's case, hurt.

"…Thank you for warning me." Yami said. Téa nodded and started heading away again before she turned around and gave him a quick hug.

"We are going to get him home." She said before pulling away and running after Joey.

…

After they left, Yami came back to the shop to find Grandpa still on the phone. He silently waited for him to finish, the entire time thinking about what Téa said.

"That's my cue to pick them up. You're welcome to come if you want." Grandpa said.

"I'll stay… But before you go, what did you mean earlier?" Yami asked.

"Pardon?"

"The name Dragon of Destruction. What does it have to do with the family? I can tell you didn't want to talk about it with everyone there, but if it can help Yugi we have to know." Yami asked.

Another dark shadow seemed to cover Grandpa's face. "It's not my place to share that."

Yami sighed, expecting as much. "It has to do with Junior's past doesn't it?"

Grandpa remained quiet a few more moments before picking up his car keys. "Yes, it does. I know I haven't been the most forthcoming with information on that and I've been doing that purposefully. Please don't take this wrong, I do trust you. I simply don't feel it's my place to tell that story. By the fact Yugi hasn't shared that information with you even though you were in his mind, means either he doesn't know or felt like it also wasn't his place."

Yami racked his mind to think of the times Yugi wouldn't let him look at his memories. For the most part, Yugi freely let Yami explore his past.

"That way you can have some memories to fall back on when you get lonely. Just don't look too hard at the embarrassing memories." Yugi had said. The gesture had touched Yami but he never really explored too far. It felt like an invasion of privacy, even if he was invited.

"If you must know." Grandpa continued. "I suggest you talk to Junior. I promise he doesn't bite; all he wants to do is please you. Well, please Yugi. We really have to get around to telling those two the truth… Oh, there's too much to do!" Grandpa yelled as he stretched his arms to the sky. "Grr... Well, time to do what I always do when I'm feeling overwhelmed, leave it for tomorrow! See you in half an hour." Grandpa waved goodbye and was off.

Yami chuckled at his new grandfather and felt that ancient love once again in his heart. The feeling disappeared though when his thoughts fell back to Junior. Yami's eyes landed on the opened packet of cards. He picked them up and started flipping through them again. Wishing Well, Silent Swordsman, Silent Magician, and a new healing spell called the Tree of Eden.

'I will find you Yugi. If that means making good with your gutless father, fine.' Yami thought. He then pushed the four cards into a single pile and went upstairs. He walked into Yugi's room and put the new cards on a side table. He then pulled out his own deck. He put that beside the new cards and stared down at the two piles.

'But first I have to talk to someone. Someone that has never failed me.' Yami then pulled a seemingly random card from the pile. Without looking he knew it would be the one he needed.

"Come forth, Dark Magician!"


	10. Trust the Crazy Cuddling Dragon

"Kurri? Kurri!"

Yugi forced his eyes open. He was still in the grove beneath the shadow of the mountain. In front of him were Silent Magician looking absolutely panicked, his sword laid beside a tree, and Kuriboh jumping into Yugi's face repeatedly.

"Hey, hey. I'm up." Yugi groaned. He started to reach for his head so he could rub it but Silent Magician snatched his hand and tried to pull him. It was then Yugi realized that some time in his sleep, Gandora had surrounded him in a close hug. While Silent Magician pulled, Gandora held on tighter, stretching Yugi.

"I don't think that's going to work-" Yugi gasped, right before being cut off by a snarl. Everyone froze. Then Gandora mumbled something in her sleep and shifted her position. Pulling Yugi into a tighter embrace.

Silent Magician jumped back with Kuriboh following. Once they knew Gandora was still asleep, Silent Magician scratched her head. Then she used her magic to write,

"What happened to you? We woke up in the cave to find you and the dragon gone. We thought she might have eaten you and we panicked all the way up the mountain!"

"Sorry for the scare," Yugi whispered. "I'm fine, Gandora was nice enough to find me some food last night and I guess we both fell asleep here."

Silent Magician's eyes widened and she quickly looked from Gandora to the ensnared Yugi, not believing that this dragon had the ability to do anything remotely nice. Eventually, she shook her head and sighed.

"I'm guessing she fought the slumber then? That would explain why she's still asleep while the rest of the land has already woken up." She wrote. Silent Magician then pinched the bridge of her nose and soundlessly growled. "We have to get you out of there before she wakes up."

"Actually guys, I don't think we have to worry about that. I got to talk with Gandora last night and I think…" Yugi realized then Silent Magician wasn't listening to him. She held her hand out with her eyes closed. Yugi saw the familiar blue magic surround him. While before Silent Magician just lifted or yanked him, this levitation magic took focus to gently move him out of the dragon's arms.

Yugi was surprised at Silent Magician's grace as she levitated him. For a moment it even looked like the little mage grew a few inches as she worked. Yugi didn't voice his observation, not wanting to wake Gandora and have her first image be of him floating by her face. He didn't think that would go down well for anyone.

When Yugi's feet lightly touched the ground Kuriboh immediately jumped into his arms. Yugi smiled and pulled the fluffball into his own hug. Silent Magician then grabbed his hand again and pulled him away, running at top speeds for her little legs.

"Wait!" Yugi began. He was about to say more when his sword, now flying towards Silent's outstretched hand, nearly hit the back of his head. Yugi used this time to stick his heels in the ground and pull away from the hurried mage. Silent Magician turned back in surprise and almost got beamed in the head by the sword she summoned. Thankfully Kuriboh jumped from Yugi's arms and stopped the flying sword before it did some damage. Silent Magician let the magic leave the weapon and looked to Yugi with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't think we should leave her," Yugi said.

"Why?! She trapped us all day yesterday, this is our only chance to get away!" Silent Magician wrote.

"I think she was trying to protect us yesterday, in her own misguided way," Yugi said. This made Silent Magician burst out laughing. The fact the laugh was still silent made Yugi feel even stupider for what he was about to say, but he couldn't ignore what his heart was telling him. "I think she could help us."

At that Silent Magician stopped laughing and looked at Yugi with her mouth open in shock.

"She is a Dragon of Destruction." Silent Magician's words were highlighted in red magic to make her point. "The only thing she will help us with is destroying the wishing well. Then we will truly be stuck."

Before Yugi could argue, the three all jumped a good foot in the air when they heard grumbles behind them. Yugi looked back to see Gandora starting to get up. He then turned back to see Silent Magician and Kuriboh hiding behind one of the large trees. Silent tried to motion him to hide too but Yugi stood his ground.

As Gandora got up she stretched out her back and scratched her belly. She seemed in a good mood so Yugi was about to walk out, then Gandora woke up enough to really look around. The beast's whole body language immediately turned sour. Her tail started flicking as she hastily turned from side to side. She then began tossing boulders and looking under them, frantically searching for something. She was even about to uproot a tree when Yugi spoke.

"Morning Gandora." Yugi cheerfully said. Gandora jumped around to face Yugi, her eyes wide. Then she lunged at him. Silent Magician and Kuriboh leaped from behind their tree to save Yugi, but there was nothing for them to do. Yugi found himself caught in the mother of all bear hugs.

Yugi thought he had felt true hugs when Joey squeezed him, but he was so wrong. Gandora held him close to her chest and just kept squeezing. He honestly felt like a tube of toothpaste with one drop left. Before Yugi started worrying about air Gandora lightened up, just a bit. As Yugi took a deep breath Gandora started moving him up towards her maw. For a split second, both Yugi and the others thought that maybe she was going to eat him. Yugi braced for impact and he was glad he did as Gandora pushed her snout into him and nuzzled him with all the force of a desperate dragon.

If Silent Magician's mouth was open in surprise earlier, her jaw was now on the floor at this dragon's display of… love?! Kuriboh was just as stunned, for once in their life they wasn't bouncing up and down and instead stayed grounded in horror. The two were completely frozen, unsure if to attack or run away.

Yugi was dumbstruck, Seto could have come dancing by in a pink fluffy dress and it wouldn't have phased him. Was this really the same dragon that had been snapping and growling at him yesterday? He tentatively patted Gandora's head, not knowing what else to do. To his further shock, she pushed into his hand. Then she opened her eyes and looked down at the small human in her arms. For a split second, she seemed disappointed. Then her emotions did a 180. She smiled a wide toothy grin and rested her forehead on Yugi's. Unlike her earlier actions, this one was of pure gentleness. Yugi once again found himself frozen, he didn't even move his still stretched out hand.

The world seemed to stop as Gandora held her position. Yugi's fear slowly began to melt away and he loosened up. He tried to make eye contact with Gandora, moving in such a way that Gandora's nose touched the Millennium Puzzle on his chest. The quartz puzzle flickered in golden light, centering on the Eye of Wdjat. Gandora noticed and pulled away. The light disappeared and Yugi felt no different, other than the utter shock of being cuddled by a dragon.

Gandora then looked up to see Silent Magician and Kuriboh standing there. She snarled and squeezed Yugi closer to her. This time Yugi had air left in his lungs to yelp and this brought Silent Magician back to reality. She held the sword out and even Kuriboh got in a fighting stance. Gandora began to growl and got in her own stance when Yugi put a hand on her shoulder. She looked down, right into Yugi's wide magenta eyes. Her growl stopped. For a split second Yugi swore he saw her mouth turn down into a hurt frown, then she opened her arms. She dropped Yugi like a sack of potatoes and turned away without a word.

Yugi landed with a thud on his backside. Gandora not even looking at him as she walked away. He winced as he rubbed his back, the other two running to his side.

"Are you ok?!" Silent wrote. Yugi nodded and slowly got to his feet. He looked to Gandora who still had her back to the three.

"Good morning to you too?" Yugi more asked than said.

"The tree did its job. I'm glad to see you healed." Gandora growled as she crossed her arms.

"Healed?" Yugi asked. He then really looked at himself. All his injuries from the day before were gone. Even the sore muscles he had been dreading wasn't there. Silent Magician noticed this too and walked around Yugi to get a better look at him. Yugi tested his various limbs and found them in perfect working condition, it wasn't even like he had scaled and fallen down a mountain multiple times yesterday.

"What tree?" Silent wrote.

"This big white tree Gandora found for me yesterday. It's right over there-" When Yugi turned to where the great tree had been, he paused. In the place of the white tree was a normal oak. No fruit and no white leaves. When Silent turned her eyes grew wide.

"Wow, it's beautiful!" She wrote. Yugi tilted his head. That was where the tree had been yesterday and it even had the mark Gandora gave it, yet it wasn't the angelic tree Yugi remembered. Silent and Kuriboh ran over to the tree and gawked at it, looking up into its thick leaves.

"I've never seen such a white tree before. This has to be the Tree of Eden! I knew this trap card had to be somewhere in this domain!" Silent wrote to no one in particular. "It even has the big fruit!"

Yugi looked up into the green leaves and saw none of the head-sized fruit from last night. He crossed his arms and was about to worry about going crazy when Gandora spoke.

"You can only eat from it once. Keep that in mind little one." She said. Yugi turned around as Gandora began to move away. She seemed fully healed from the day before (Yugi was getting more and more jealous of duel monsters quick healing) and spread her wings. She was about to leap into flight when Yugi yelled,

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"Away." She said simply. Yugi's mouth turned down in a frown. From lovey-dovey to ice cold. He was going to get dizzy from trying to follow this dragon's emotions.

"I hope you're not planning on going back to that mob of Gandora," Yugi said. Gandora paused, then her claws balled into fists.

"What if I am?" She said, still not turning to face Yugi.

"You can't do that! Those dragons will…" Yugi stopped himself from saying 'tear you apart.' If he had learned anything about these dragons, it was not to insult their strength. "…not be happy to see you."

Gandora's head turned slightly, just enough for Yugi to see her eyes. While they were still crimson red, the light seemed to have left them.

"You have nowhere else to go, do you?" Yugi said. This got Silent's and Kuriboh's attention away from the tree.

"We Gandora are born and die together." She said.

"So, you literally know no other life than being with them," Yugi said. He then put his hand to his chin as he thought how to word this. "Well, would you like to journey with us?"

This got Gandora to turn fully. She seemed just as shocked as Silent and Kuriboh were.

"Journey?" Gandora whispered.

"Yeah, we are going up to the wishing well at the top of this mountain and would love help." Yugi smiled. Just then Silent yanked the back of his hair. "Ow! Hey." Yugi turned to her and Kuriboh. Silent pulled Yugi without a word behind a tree with Kuriboh bouncing along behind.

"She can't go back to those jerks," Yugi whispered.

"She can't come with us either! The whole point of this mission is to get rid of her people. She won't exactly be happy to help." Silent aggressively wrote. Yugi might have chuckled at the strange scene if he was in a better mood.

Yugi sighed and nodded. He looked around the tree at Gandora. She seemed to be debating about just flying away. She then growled and grabbed a large tree. She uprooted the thing like it was a weed and dropped it. She then sat on her newly made bench. She still looked tired even though she had a full eight hours of sleep and Yugi didn't think it was from pulling up the tree.

"You're right, but I feel like she could really help us," Yugi whispered back to Silent. The mage wrote nothing but Yugi could see in her eyes that she was not convinced.

"I know, I know, it's just…" Yugi's eyes then lit up. "Why don't we just ask her! Now that's she's in the mood to talk."

"What do you mean?" Silent wrote.

"The two reasons for coming up here was for a wish and to talk to the dragon protecting the well. We were going to ask him if he knew why and how the Gandora came in. Well, we can just ask her." Before Silent could write a response Yugi jumped back to his feet and walked out from behind the tree.

Gandora immediately stood when Yugi came up to her. She seemed poised to fly away at any moment. Yugi decided to take that as a good sign, at least she wasn't snapping at him anymore.

"Before you ask again, the answer is no. I won't be coming with you." Gandora said. This made Yugi stop a moment. While he would be sad to see her return to those… other dragons, he couldn't stop her. At least he could still help his other friends.

"Ok. If that's what you want, but before you go can you answer a few questions for me?" Yugi asked.

Gandora paused, her eyes locked onto Silent Magician who was peaking out from behind the tree. "What if I say no?"

Yugi rubbed his head and sighed. "That would make things more difficult for us, but that would be that. We'll keep going up the mountain and you would go on your way."

Gandora's eyes returned to Yugi, staring at him with a much softer gaze than she had for Silent.

"Fine, what do you want to know?" She said. She hopped back onto the tree and let her tail rest on her lap.

"Thank you," Yugi said as he climbed up the downed tree and sat next to her. She grunted in acknowledgment and didn't push him away. More good signs in Yugi's eyes. Silent and Kuriboh remained a good distance back, despite Yugi's gestures for them to come forward.

"Where are you from?" Yugi decided to start with.

"The Crags. There is a war between the warriors and dragons going on there." Gandora answered bluntly.

"So I've heard… Are you running from the war?"

"No! Gandora never run!" Yugi found himself face to face with Gandora's crimson eyes.

"Of course. I never meant it as an insult." Yugi quickly corrected. Gandora nodded and crossed her arms.

"I heard that this realm was made for monsters wanting to get away from fighting. We Gandora were done taking orders so we left. Now we're here."

Yugi looked back to Silent Magician. She was straining to hear and eventually sighed. She moved closer with Kuriboh following. Yugi nodded to them and once again rested his chin on his hand. This was a more complicated puzzle by the minute.

'Dragons trying to get away from war is understandable, but these creatures destroying everything is not, even if this land is unnerving.' Yugi thought.

Gandora looked down as Yugi thought and spoke again. "If you are trying to think of a way to stop us from destroying, don't try. We can never be completely happy unless we destroy something. It's been hardwired into our genes." Yugi glanced up in surprise that Gandora could so easily guess what his thoughts were.

"Then why did you leave the war? Wouldn't you be happier there?" The blue lettering appeared right between Yugi and Gandora. The two quickly read it and turned to Silent Magician. Gandora doings so with bared teeth.

"Killing and destroying are two separate things. Gandora believe that if a monster succumbs to wounds in battle, that is their own weakness. But actively killing them is unneeded and a sign of greater weakness. It shows that you are scared that they will come back for revenge."

"Then why did Giga want you dead?" Silent wrote before Yugi could stop her. Gandora became statue still for a moment before roaring,

"Giga would never want that!"

"Then why did he want me to stab you in the neck?" Yugi pushed on, despite the dragon's returning anger. This actually stopped Gandora's growing tirade. At that point, Silent had run up and jumped to Yugi's side on the tree. She tried to hand him the sword but Yugi pushed it away. He kept his eye contact with Gandora. The dragon paused, once again staring down at Yugi with those sad eyes. Magenta met Crimson, each trying to find something in the other's eyes. Gandora then snorted and turned to look out towards the valley below them.

"He… He took a hit to his honor to demand that of you. He was hoping to trick you into powering me up." Gandora nearly whispered.

"What do you mean? How would stabbing you power you up?" Yugi asked. Silent and Kuriboh asking the same question as they surrounded Yugi, preparing to grab him and run if they needed.

"That is a Gandora secret and I will not share it with you or your… why is she here? To be your court fool?" Gandora spat out. This made Silent's face go beet red and she seemed ready to stomp right up to the dragon and give her a piece of her mind when Yugi jumped off the log.

"Silent Magician and I are partners trying to simply get to the top of the mountain," Yugi said. Gandora's eyes got wide at the word 'partner' as she looked from Yugi to Silent. Yugi continued on like he hadn't noticed. "At the top is a wishing well that apparently can grant one wish to every one person. Do you know about it?"

"Yes…" Gandora trailed off as she studied the mage.

Silent's arm wrapped around Yugi so she could pull him towards her. She then wrote in front of his face.

"Maybe you shouldn't have told the damage happy dragon about the chance of a wish!"

"We need the help," Yugi said. He looked back to Gandora to see she seemed less interested in the magical wish as she was in Silent Magician at that moment.

"This even tinier one is your mate?" She said. Immediately Yugi went just as red in the face as Silent.

"Nononono!" They both said and wrote respectively

"But she is your partner?" Gandora asked.

"Friend, she's my new friend." Yugi quickly clarified.

"Fighting comrade?" Gandora asked.

"Kind of," Yugi said as he helped Silent get off the tree trunk and took Kuriboh in his arms. "I just met her so I won't call her a close friend but, she's someone I'd like to spend time with when this is all over." Gandora's face remained scrunched in confusion. "Err… Someone I have a bond with that's not family or love." Yugi tried.

"Oh, a beloved," Gandora said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Sure…" Yugi trailed off. He glanced to Silent who shrugged. While she didn't write it, her face told Yugi what she was thinking,

'Well, that was off topic.'

"Anyway," Yugi continued. "We friends are trying to help the monsters in this domain. I now know you Gandora need to destroy, but doing that here hurts others. It doesn't matter if they are weak in your culture's eyes, they don't deserve their homes being destroyed. I was planning on asking the wishing well to bring back the Legendary Knights." At that name, Gandora jumped back. She tried to hide her worry but Yugi could see it clear as day. "You don't like the knights?" He asked. Gandora looked down at the ground and rubbed her shoulder.

"They tried to stop us from getting into this domain. They thought we belonged in the Crags… that we belonged in the war" She trailed off. Yugi and Silent looked at each other. Both with deep frowns.

"What happened to them?" Silent wrote. Gandora saw the words and immediately swiped them away.

"They went away." She said in a low voice, the kind of voice that sent a shiver down Yugi's spine. Gandora then glared down at the three. She strode forward and the three had to scramble to get out of her way, Yugi going one way and Kuriboh and Silent running another. Gandora walked past the three to the edge of the grove and looked up the mountain. The peak was covered by a layer of clouds so it almost looked like there wasn't even a top to the mountain.

"You are going to wish us away, like the knights," Gandora said, for the first time, with no emotion in her voice. Both Yugi and the others went quiet, not knowing how to respond.

"Hey, Yugi's beloved," Gandora said as she turned back to the three. Silent Magician stood up. "How powerful is that well?"

"Pardon?" She wrote.

"Can it grant the wish of sending all us Gandora to a new land, a land perfect for us?"

Silent had to think a few moments, then she nodded.

"Good." Gandora then looked to Yugi. As the silence stretched on Gandora would open her mouth, then close it. She did this in a cycle until she growled and slammed her chest gem with her fist. "Little one, can… I order you to make that wish for me, in return I will help you up the mountain."

"Order?" Yugi chuckled as he walked up to her. Hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. "You don't need to order me to do anything, you just have to ask." Gandora flinched at that word. "Does asking make you weak?"

Gandora shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. I shouldn't care about how far I fall when I've already done so." She then lowered her arm for Yugi. He instead waited. "…Please, can you make that wish for me?" Gandora said.

Yugi smiled and jumped into her arms. She once again held him close to her chest. She seemed to loosen up with him in her arms. Yugi noticed this and wondered why she seemed to relax when holding him. Gandora then walked up to the other two and put out her other arm. Silent Magician paused to look to Yugi with her big grey eyes.

Yugi shrugged. "She's actually pretty comfortable if that's what you're worried about." This made both Silent and Gandora smile, Yugi being most surprised by Gandora's smile. Silent then sighed. She picked up Kuriboh and the sword.

"This is what I get for following a friend of the Pharaoh's." She offhandedly wrote. Gandora made the mage give the sword to Yugi, but finally she picked up Silent and took off.

Gandora flew past many perfectly dangerous ridges and loose rock walls. She was taking them up the mountain much faster than they could have ever done on foot. Yugi looked on in awe at the scenery. This had been the best day so far and it hadn't even started yet. He got to see this perfect world in all its glory and most important of all, he made another new friend. Or beloved, whatever she wanted to call herself.


	11. Chasing Invisible Dragons

A familiar chill ran up Yami's spine. This wasn't an ominous chill like the shadow games produced. This was the electrifying feeling of excitement. The sensation always seemed to coincide with Dark Magician's arrival, whether it be his hologram's appearance or the summoning of his spirit. As Yami held out the card that connected Dark Magician to this world, a breeze seemed to blow by the pharaoh. Yami chose to ignore that he was in a closed-off room and focus on the figure that appeared in front of him. The magician was much taller than Yami, even when he wasn't floating. His face was nearly always emotionless unless he was battling, a fact that would have usually peeked Yami's suspicions. The pharaoh didn't trust anyone unless he thought he could read them. Yet, Yami always felt completely safe around this duel spirit. He could hardly explain it himself, but since the day Yugi got that card, Yami knew it was here to protect them.

Once Dark Magician was entirely in the room he glanced around, most likely looking for an opponent. Yami did rarely call him unless it was a duel. Once the magician figured out there was no fight, he got down on one knee and bowed to Yami.

"You don't have to do that." Yami sighed. This over-politeness always made him feel uncomfortable, especially from a spirit he considered his card partner. The Dark Magician remained kneeled; head bowed to the floor. "…Please stand. I need your guidance." Yami said. Dark Magician immediately got to his feet and tapped the bottom of his scepter to the ground. While the scepter made no sound against the wooden floor, Yami knew that was the spirit's way of agreeing to talk.

Dark Magician was a strange spirit. He didn't quite feel the same as other duel spirits. Those other spirits had an aura about them that made you know they were powerful creatures, even small ones like Kuriboh. Dark Magician had no such aura. He also never spoke, and none of the other duel spirits seemed to know him… well other than Dark Magician Girl.

…

Sometime after the Leviathan fell Yugi was editing his deck with Yami. As he was looking through his cards, he pulled out Dark Magician Girl. It was then her spirit popped out on her own for the first time. She scared Yugi half to death and surprised the spirit of Dark Magician who had been by Yami's side. As soon as Dark Magician Girl saw Dark Magician, she flew into a joyful frenzy. She kept zipping around the room and demanding to know why he never came to the duel monster's world anymore.

"All this time! Think of how many duels we've been in together and you haven't spoken to me once. You were so quiet I didn't even think there was a spirit in that Dark Magician hologram!" Dark Magician Girl had said back then.

"Wait, you know Dark Magician?" Yugi asked.

"Of course, he was my master. Those little stories on our cards aren't just for fluff. But then five-thousand years ago he got a human partner. That partnership took him away from the duel monsters world. At the same time, I also got a human partner and became the leader of the Dominion of the Beast, so we lost contact. I think the last time we talked waaasss…" Dark Magician Girl's face scrunched up as she took on an expression Yami recognized. It was the same look he would have when he tried to remember his foggy past. Eventually, she gripped her head in frustration. "I can't remember! Strange, I usually have such a good memory... Anyway, I might have forgotten our last meeting, but I would never forget you, master!"

At the time Dark Magician remained silent, but his bright blue eyes seemed apologetic and almost sad. The more Dark Magician Girl continued to playfully berate Dark Magician, the more he fell back into his blank expression. This only seemed to get Dark Magician Girl more riled up. This cycle continued until Dark Magician held out his hand. Dark Magician Girl stopped and she watched as Dark Magician drifted back to Yami's side. He stayed floating by Yami's spiritual form, not saying anything. This seemed to remind Dark Magician Girl of something because she became shocked, then saddened.

"Oh, you're not my master. Not anymore at least…"

…

After that meeting, Dark Magician Girl was always friendly with Dark Magician, but she never sought him out. Again, this should have made Yami much more apprehensive of his chosen card partner. Yet, he had an unexplainable, but unwavering faith in the card spirit.

"I need to know something. Why have the duel spirits gone quiet?" Yami said as he sat down on Yugi's bed.

The magician stared at him a few moments. It felt like his blue eyes were looking into Yami's very core. Then Dark Magician blinked and seemed confused. He raised his scepter and used it to point at Yugi in a Muto family photo.

"Yugi is gone. That is why I need your help." Yami said as his gaze fell to the floor. The most emotion Yami had ever seen from the spirit came when the mage's eyes widened and he fell back in shock. The magician seemed honestly terrified. "He's missing. I think it has something to do with duel spirits, but since I haven't been able to talk to any lately, you are all I have."

Dark Magician returned to his emotionless self when he realized Yugi was only missing. But for a moment, Yami thought he saw relief on the magician's face. Dark Magician then looked around the room. His eyes eventually fell on the Millennium Puzzle. He floated over and gestured for Yami to lift up the puzzle.

"When Yugi left, this puzzle changed too. It doesn't feel like it's made of metal anymore. It's more like a rock." Yami sighed as Dark Magician studied the pyramid. The magician then tapped his scepter to it. A yellow spark came from the eye at the center. "I can tell it still has some magic, but it's so minimal I wouldn't have felt it without looking for it. Let's hope I don't have to stop any shadow games anytime soon."

Dark Magician gave Yami a wary look and pulled away. The magician paced the room, much like Yami did when worried. Then Dark Magician stopped and looked out the window. Out there Yami could see the darkening Domino city with KaibaCorp's main building towering over everything. Dark Magician then looked to Yami and the Millennium Puzzle. He pointed at a clock, then at himself.

"Time and you?" Yami asked. Dark Magician shook his head and started to glide towards the window. He went right through the wall. He then stuck his head back in to point to the clock and himself again.

"You'll be back?" Yami asked. Dark Magician nodded and pointed at Yami's door. The magician shook his head as he gestured from Yami to the door, then he disappeared from view.

Yami sighed and flopped back on the bed. "Don't leave, and you'll be back." He guessed to the empty room. This was probably the worst thing Dark Magician could have asked of him. Yami felt like he had to do something. He couldn't just lie around while Yugi could be in danger. As he thought about getting up and maybe following the spirit, that unexplainable gut feeling returned. He trusted Dark Magician, more than almost anyone, even more than some of his dear friends. So, the Pharaoh waited. He stayed in Yugi's room and stared at the ceiling. It felt like if he got up, he would start pacing. With how tired this entire day had made him; he needed all the energy he could save.

About thirty minutes later Dark Magician appeared once again in the room. Yami immediately woke up from his quick nap, only to find Dark Magician bowing to him again.

"I said you do not need to do that! What did you find?" Yami growled in frustration. The magician got up, not affected by Yami's anger in the slightest, and pointed out the window. Yami ran to the window and looked out just in time to be blinded. There was a great flash as black fire collided with white scales. Yami shaded his eyes to see two dragons fighting over the city skyline. It was Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon and one of Seto's Blue-Eyes.

"What are they doing?!" Yami asked as he looked back to Dark Magician. The magician once again pointed at the fight. Yami turned to see Blue-Eyes grab Red-Eyes by the throat and throw him towards Kaiba Tower. The black dragon fell through the building's wall and reappeared higher up the tower.

"You want me to go to them?" Yami asked. Dark Magician nodded. Yami sighed and watched as the battle continued up towards the top of the tower. "Kaiba's going to love to see me at this hour," Yami said as he looked out to the black sky. Then other lights caught his attention as he looked down to see Junior driving up with the other Mutos.

"They're not going to like me traveling the city this late either," Yami said. He then pulled away from the window and jumped into Yugi's bed. He didn't even take off his shoes as he covered his entire body in blankets. Dark Magician watched on as Junior and Yui came up the stairs. He then floated away from view as the hallway light crept into the dark room.

"Is Yugi already asleep? Sure, it's late but hasn't he always been a night owl?" Junior asked.

"Shh. He's sick. Must have been too tired." Yui whispered. Their voices disappeared as they went into their room. Once they were gone, Yami held his breath as he heard Grandpa's footsteps stop at his door. Yami heard as the older man sighed, then the hallway light disappeared as Grandpa closed the door. Once the shop became quiet, Yami silently hopped out of bed. To his relief, Dark Magician was still there. Yami grabbed his deck, cellphone, and headed out.

As Yami tip-toed through the noiseless shop he couldn't help but feel a familiarity with the dark scene. It was like many years ago when he would sneak out to punish bullies. When the shadows were all he knew…

'I still have to deal with those victims… One problem at a time Yami. First, find Yugi, then worry about your old enemies.'

Yami held by Grandpa's door to make sure he could hear his slow breathing. Never take for granted that Grandpa was asleep was something he had learned early on; while Yui took sleeping pills, Grandpa was a light sleeper. As Yami waited to make sure Grandpa was asleep, he wondered why he was still doing this. Grandpa knew everything at this point, why not ask him for help? Yami looked questioningly from Grandpa's door to Dark Magician. The mage shook his head like he somehow knew what Yami was about to ask him.

Yami slid past Grandpa's room, down the stairs, and to the window with the broken lock. He slipped the window open and slinked outside, closing the window behind him. Yami then looked around the shadowy city. On this side of the shop, there was no lamp post, leaving everything in darkness. This was something Yami felt more comfortable with when he had first woken up. Now that he was less shadow, the gloom seemed more foreboding, especially without Yugi's spirit by his side. It gave everything a twisted edge. Yami unconsciously held onto the Millennium Puzzle's chain as his eyes shifted from side to side. Dark Magician then floated past him. The magician turned back to the pharaoh and waited for him to follow. He silently led Yami through the dark the entire trip. Quietly, the two ran through Domino city, dodging shady-looking people and streetlamps. After what turned out to be an uneventful trip, until they found the great tower.

"Now for the hard part," Yami whispered as he looked up at the tallest skyscraper in the city. At the very top, if Yami craned his neck, he could still hear faint roars. He then looked back down to see workers as they left the building. They were all wearing fancy suits and dress shirts. Yami felt the loose-fitting summer clothes Yugi had thrown on this morning. He looked the opposite of official.

Yami put on a stern face. The face of someone that knew where they were going and strode into the building. Once past the group of workers leaving at the end of their shift, only one woman was working at the front desk. She was lazily leaning on one hand as she played some game on her computer. Yami walked right up, surprising her and making her lose her game.

"What are you doing here, kid? This place isn't a playground." She huffed.

"I am Yugi Muto," Yami said, hoping that his name alone would be enough. The woman just kept glaring at him. Yami found himself standing on his tip-toes just to see over the tall desk. Yami hid his twinge of embarrassment. He knew it would be hard to look like he was supposed to be here if he couldn't even stand over the desk.

"I am here to see Seto Kaiba. I'm his… friend." Yami made up, knowing full well that friend didn't describe even half of their relationship.

At the CEO's name, the woman immediately sat up straighter. "Kaiba? Look, not just anyone can see him, especially this late. Do you have an appointment or something?"

"Look up my name," Yami said.

The woman didn't look convinced, but she did as asked and typed his name in. As her eyes scanned the screen, her whole demeanor changed. Her face went pale a moment before she put on a honey-sweet smile.

"Oh, please forgive my rudeness, sir. Just give me one more second." She then really leaned in towards her computer screen and frantically read whatever Kaiba had by Yugi's name. Once done, she looked around the empty front area. "Are you the only one here?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Yami said, knowing the woman couldn't see Dark Magician floating by his side.

"No, uh 'dork patrol' with you?" She asked with an embarrassed grin.

"No. Just me and my deck." Mentioning his deck seemed to be the right thing to say as the woman immediately typed something in and gestured towards the elevator.

"Welcome, Mr. Muto. On floor sixty-four is the dueling arena. I'll tell Mr. Kaiba about your arrival and-"

"I'm going to the top floor."

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm going to the top floor. I've already wasted enough of my time here." Yami said, doing his best-entitled brat voice and striding past the desk. Inside the elevator was another woman that worked the elevator's buttons and had the keys to all the floors. She looked to the front desk with trepidation as Yami walked in and ordered for the top level. The front desk woman shrugged. The elevator then closed, headed for the top floor.

Once on top Yami headed out without another word. He didn't know if he was supposed to tip the elevator lady, but even if he was, he didn't have the money for it. So, he chose to keep up his rude façade and walk out without acknowledging the lady.

Before the open roof was a small sitting room. As Yami walked through it, he heard desperate cries just outside. He then ran past the room and threw open the doors. In front of him was a jet landing pad. In this large open space was four dragon spirits. One of the male Blue-Eyes and the one female Blue-Eyes was along the side as they watched a fight. In the middle of the makeshift arena was the other male Blue-Eyes as he stood on Red-Eyes and held his neck in a death clamp.

"Give in!" The attacking Blue-Eyes demanded.

"Never!" Red-Eyes gasped.

"Stop!" Yami yelled as he ran onto the battlefield.

The Blue-Eyes hesitated a moment and looked to the female. She was turned to Dark Magician as he had just floated to her side. The two stared at each other, silently communicating in a way none of the others knew. Then she nodded to her dragon companion. He grudgingly let go of Red-Eyes and stepped back.

Red-Eyes clutched his neck as he righted himself. Yami ran to the black dragon's side as Dark Magician continued to "talk" with the female.

"Hello Pharaoh, what are you doing here?" Red-Eyes tried to say casually. He wasn't persuasive since his voice box squeaked every other syllable.

"I'm here because I saw you two fighting. What happened?" Yami asked.

"Oh, just dragons fighting. It's our instinct to fight when we meet other dragons." Red-Eyes tried to wave away. The two male Blue-Eyes then snickered, making Red-Eyes growl. This growl turned into a squeaky cough causing the two to laugh harder.

"This flying gecko tried to rope us into fixing his mistake. We would not have even thought of helping this whelp if it was not for our Lady's kind heart." One male said as he gestured to the female Blue-Eyes still conversing with Dark Magician.

"She felt sorry for him and said if he could defeat one of us in battle, we would help. Of course, he could not." The other male said with a condescending grin.

"Heh, yeah right. That female talks about as much as your Dark Magician does. I sometimes swear that those two aren't even duel spirits." Red-Eyes whispered to Yami as he got up. "Those other Blue-Eyes just want an excuse to not get off their lazy tails."

The two males seemed to have heard that because they both lunged at Red-Eyes at the same time. Red-Eyes yelped in fear and jumped behind Yami. The two then burst out laughing again and slapped their wings against each others'.

Yami shook his head and walked forward. "I'm not here to mediate a fight. What I need to know is why duel spirits have seemingly disappeared from this world."

This got the two Blue-Eyes to shut their jaws. They immediately looked back to the female for guidance. She seemed done with Dark Magician and turned away from him. She glanced at the two males and shook her head. She then looked down at Yami, her expression just as blank as Dark Magician's. Yami felt like she was trying to find something in his face, whatever it was she seemed not to see it as she turned away with a snort.

The female Blue-Eyes then walked right up to Red-Eyes and glared at him. Red-Eyes walked on two legs while the Blue-Eyes species moved on four. Despite the height difference she seemed to make Red-Eyes smaller in comparison to her graceful and powerful form.

"Eh, I get it, I lost. I'll just get out of your way..." Red-Eyes tried. The female just kept staring him down with that soul-piercing glare. She wouldn't let Red-Eyes turn away. "Alright fine! It's my fault the spirits have gone quiet. Well, me and that Gandora's fault."

Yami's eyes instantly widened when he heard that dragon's name again. "Gandora? As in the Dragon of Destruction?"

"The very same." Red-Eyes sighed. He tried to walk away, but the female kept coldly staring him down. "Fine! I'll explain everything. Just stop judging me!" He spat as he sat down. The female's expression never changed, but she turned away and walked back to the two males. The three laid on their bellies with their legs tucked under them, the males still leering at Red-Eyes.

"This soft-hearted idiot tries to go for a female way out of his league, and in doing so accidentally banished the three Legendary Knights." A male said.

"I did not! I'll have you know I was seduced into doing it by her magical wiles." Red-Eyes snapped. Yami was still stuck on the fact the Legendary Knights were involved as the three dragons began to argue.

"You said the Legendary Knights? As in the knights we freed from their dragon bodies?" Yami cut into the dragons' quarrel.

"Yep, after the whole Dartz incident, they went back to protecting the various borders in the duel monsters world," Red-Eyes explained. At that point, Dark Magician came to Yami's side and used his magic to produce a floating map of the duel monsters world. Each territory was split up by what type of creature lived there and what level.

"We Blue-Eyes do not go to the duel world anymore since Seto freed us from less worthy card holders. We owe our lives to him, and we'll stay by his side till the end of time. Even if he can not see us." One male said proudly. His brother at the same time lifted his wings in self-importance. The female's blank face didn't change.

"Yeah, yeah. While those three waste tons of energy living in the human world, I normally live here." Red-Eyes said as he pointed to a mountain in a land marked as the Dominion of the Beasts. "This land is for weak monsters and those that want a break from fighting. The Legendary Knights guard this land the most aggressively because many power-hungry monsters tried to take it over a while ago. It's said to be a perfect land, and I would have to agree. Also, this land has the wishing well trap card and in the spirits' world, it can grant wishes."

Yami's breath caught in his throat at that information. "A wishing well? Does it work?"

"It is not that powerful." One of the Blue-Eyes said. "It is more of a teleporter. It hears your wish and will teleport in what you need. It can't create or destroy."

"It's also my job to guard it," Red-Eyes said with his wings flaring in pride.

"A job in which you failed!"

Red-Eyes glared at the Blue-Eyes but chose to ignore them this time. "As a high attack monster, it's unusual for me to be in the Dominion of the Beasts. Most can't make it through the barrier unless they are at 1500 ATK or less. But since I guard the well, I'm allowed in and given multiple wishes if I want." Red-Eyes continued, clearly trying to impress Yami. So far, the pharaoh was more focused on the Gandora and banished knights. Both he, Dark Magician, and the female Blue-Eyes were getting impatient. Red-Eyes noticed this and sped up his story.

"So anyway, something weird happens a month or so ago. One portal into the Dominion of the Beasts is halfway up the mountain the wishing well is at the top of. It's normal for me to see new monsters living on the mountain as they get used to the land. That changed when I found a single Gandora on the mountain. Can you believe it?! I thought that species died out ages ago, yet there she was, eating some giant piece of white fruit. What's even stranger is that Gandora are pretty powerful. I didn't think a dragon like her could get past the barrier."

"Get to the good part!" A Blue-Eyes yelled.

"I'm gettin' there. I'm gettin' there!" Red-Eyes snarled, less squeakily this time. "So, I watched this female for a while, and while she does scare the occasional monster, she's harmless." Red-Eyes's gaze then fell off towards the distance as he smiled to himself, most likely remembering something he liked. "I even thought about going down to talk to her when she comes up to me! There are a ton of riddles and traps in front of the wishing well. However, she blows through them all, literally. Of course, I'm supposed to stop someone from doing that, but I let her. She just seemed so determined that I didn't have the heart to force her to solve the riddles."

"It also helps that it is the middle of Red-Eyes breeding season." A Blue-Eyes just had to shout. That made Red-Eyes truly growl and he seemed ready to jump back into battle. It was the female that stopped them this time as she slapped the back of the male's head with her wing. Both males looked apologetically to her, and she nodded to Red-Eyes to continue his story.

"So, the Gandora comes to me with this sob story about how her people are trying to get away from their enslavers. This Gandora was the only one of her kind allowed in the Dominion of the Beasts. She believed this land would be the only place her people could find peace, and I agreed at the time. I had no idea who was strong enough to enslave an entire race, especially such powerful dragons, but they'd definitely be too strong to come into this land.

"Then she really started pleading with her big red eyes, and shaking her tail… I just couldn't turn her away. I was under her hypnotic spell. Because of this, I did something clearly not in my character. Using her hypnotic magic, she got me to say I'd use one of my extra wishes to get her people in. So, she didn't have to waste her wish."

"You wished the Legendary Knights away," Yami said as he took in a sharp breath. He looked to Dark Magician and the mage only solemnly nodded.

"I was expecting the wish to teleport the other Gandora in, not send the Legendary Knights away!" Red-Eyes yelped. He then crossed his arms and plopped back down as a grumpy child would. "Then she revealed she already had a mate." He grumbled under his breath.

"You…" Yami shook his head, not believing what Red-Eyes did and where his priorities laid. Yami then turned to Dark Magician and the Blue-Eyes for some sense. "That's why the other duel spirits have gone quiet?" he asked.

"When the Legendary Knights were banished, there were no guards for the borders, including the border to the human world. Everything went into magical lockdown. We could not travel there now even if we wanted to. Any monster in the duel world at the time is stuck there, and the rest is trapped out here." A Blue-Eyes explained with a shrug.

Yami then turned to Dark Magician. The magician stayed silently by his side. "You were in the human world when this happened?" Yami asked. Dark Magician made no movement or expression. Yami sighed and turned to Red-Eyes.

"If things are in lockdown, how are you here?"

"Again, you can thank that Gandora. Once I realized what my wish did, I asked her to use her wish to reverse it. Since I couldn't make another request from the well for another couple months. She dared to ignore me and wish for something completely different. She went and wished for her hatchling back. Now I don't know this for sure, but the way she talked it sounded like her kid was dead. The wishing well can't bring back the dead, so usually, it ignores such a wish. Yet, when she wished it began glowing red. I knew it was trying to teleport something in from another dimension. At the time I thought maybe it was the dimension it took the Knights so I jumped in and used the tunnel it made to travel here. Sadly, no knights. I just ended up on your roof earlier this morning." Red-Eyes said as he looked at Yami.

Yami stiffened, "Was I sitting in the middle of Yugi's room with a card packet in my hand when you teleported in?" he asked.

"Uhhh, yeah!"

"That was right when that glowing red card took Yugi!" Yami announced. This made both Dark Magician, and the female Blue-Eyes widened their eyes.

"Are you alright, my lady?" One of the males asked as he and his brother looked to the wide-eyed female. Both she and Dark Magician rapidly regained their composure, but Yami wasn't so quick.

"Yugi must have been taken by that well. He has to be in the duel monsters world." Yami said as he started to pace back and forth on the roof.

"Great! Wait, is Yugi secretly a Gandora hatchling or something?" Red-Eyes asked.

Yami shrugged. "I highly doubt it. He was foretold to help duel spirits; maybe this was just a step towards that prophecy?" Yami then looked to Dark Magician. The magician shrugged too.

"Well, this means we can all gain something from working together," Red-Eyes said as he hopped to his feet. "Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes, we all have a connection to the Knights thanks to our card partners. If we came together, we could summon them here. That way, they are at least in the parallel dimension to our home instead of being all out banished."

"You two have something to gain from this. All this will do for us is waste our limited energy." A male Blue-Eyes said.

"To live here full time we have to conserve our energy well. Spending half of it to summon a few duel spirits is not on our budget!" The other male said.

"You can't be serious. This is our home we're talking about. Without the Knights, it will be in serious trouble!" Red-Eyes pleaded.

"Trouble that you put it in. Besides, It is not even our home anymore. Our home is at Seto's side." A Blue-Eyes said as he and the other two stood up. All three then spread their wings to prepare for flight. "We are not wasting a good chunk of our energy just to get the Knights here. What would we even do when they got here? We cannot get back to the duel monsters world thanks to the lockdown and neither can they. It is a waste of energy."

"Wait!" Yami yelled. The female immediately stopped, surprising the other two males. Yami then ran in front of them. "You have to help. Yugi's there."

"We do not care about our old home or the thousands of monsters that live there. Why would we care about one human?" A male asked as him, and his brother's eyes narrowed.

"Because," Yami paused, trying to think of anything that would sway these selfish and prideful dragons. All they seemed to care about was Seto. 'Seto.' Yami thought. Then he said out loud. "Without that one human, I will never duel again." Immediately, both males began snarling.

"But, but Seto needs to duel and win against you!"

"It is the hope that he will beat you one day that keeps him working at top performance!"

"It will never happen unless I have Yugi by my side," Yami said as he crossed his arms. The two males roared and stomped, but Yami didn't budge. The female stayed behind her blue-eyed companions as they complained. Eventually, a small smile spread across her face. She walked up to Yami and touched her forehead to his, another little spark coming from the Millennium Puzzle. The two males froze as their lady showed her approval.

"You will help?" Yami whispered to her. Her vibrant azure eye met his violet eyes. Without words, they came to an understanding. She looked to her two male companions, and they hastily calmed down.

"Fine, we will help. But only if you find a way to the duel world first. We won't waste energy on a fool's errand." A male said.

"Yes!" Red-Eyes cheered. "Ok, now to figure out how to get back…" His happiness immediately flew away when he started to think about the enormous task in front of him. "Err, you know any portals to the duel world that have opened as of late?" He asked.

Yami shook his head. "I didn't even think portals like that could be opened other than in shadow games. If I had my magic, I'd try, but when that card took Yugi, my magic disappeared."

"Wait, the card! Do you still have it?" Red-Eyes asked.

"No, unless do you mean the trap card Wishing Well?" Yami asked, excitement returning to his voice.

"No, that wouldn't be it, though it might have helped the wishing well find its way to Yugi. It has to be the card that glowed red and took Yugi's soul." Yami shook his head, and Red-Eyes growled. His tail thumped wildly against the ground as he let out his frustration.

'Thank the gods duel spirits can't usually affect this world.' Yami thought as he imagined the damage that large tail might have done to the landing pad.

Yami then sighed, keeping his arms crossed. As he looked out at the starless night sky, Dark Magician came to his side and sat next to him. Just having the magician by Yami's side made him feel better, but that didn't stop this entire day from feeling like a series of increasingly annoying roadblocks. "I just want him found," Yami said to Dark Magician

"Who found?"

Yami immediately turned to see Seto striding towards him. The three dragons quickly leaped to their human partner's side, pushing Red-Eyes off the roof in their speed. Yami heard Red-Eyes's furious roar as he caught himself a few stories down.

"I'll be at Joey's!" Red-Eyes yelled as he zipped by.

Yami didn't have time to think on Red-Eyes as he faced Seto Kaiba.

"You better have a good reason for being here Yugi. And you better not say the world is in danger or that you need a ride to some exotic place because I am not in the mood."

Yami crossed his arms and stood as tall as he could. Seto still towered over him, but Yami would not back down. All to hide the fact Yami had no idea what to say. How do you explain chasing invisible dragons?

"I'm not here to duel," Yami said. Seto's scowl deepened. He opened his mouth to bark something when Yami cut in and continued. "I need to know about a man that used to work with Gozaburo. Specifically, in his private army."

Seto immediately shut his mouth. All his retorts, gone.


	12. Children of Gandora

**A/N: This is out early because June 4th is Yugi's birthday! *Kazoo noises and confetti shoot out of nowhere* I'll upload the next chapter on June 21st. **

**The response I've been getting on this story has made me so happy. Thank you all so much! Keep theorizing and leave your comments and criticism when you can. It helps me make better chapters.**

** Enjoy the summer~**

Yugi usually had a strong stomach. If anything, he would be the one pushing his friends onto the Tilt-A-Whirl for the second time at the state fair. Yet, something about thirty-minutes of Gandora's bumpy flight, and the extremely sweet fruit he had eaten last night did not sit well in his belly. His whole face had gone green, and as soon as Gandora saw it she freaked out.

"Human's don't change colors like that!" She had roared as she just about crashed into the mountainside. The frenzied landing and everyone screaming did not help Yugi's stomach either.

After a quick explanation followed by a mad dash to the bushes, Yugi found himself crouched behind some perfect foliage for many minutes. Gandora stood protectively beside him the entire time. Because of her, not even Silent Magician or Kuriboh were allowed by him. At this point, the two were no longer frightened by Gandora's snapping and roaring. The two simply rolled their eyes, Silent being more annoyed. They left Yugi be and went on a walk around the mountain. If Yugi could have talked at the time, he might have asked Gandora to back off.

Yugi eventually laid down on his belly a few minutes later, he sighed. As he rested, he felt someone gently rubbing his back. He looked around to see Gandora with her back to him, using the tip of her tail to stroke him. This action reminded him of his mother. While it was a kind gesture, it also reminded Yugi more of the dragon's sudden and strange change in attitude towards him.

The entire flight up Yugi noticed just how overprotective Gandora became of him. From going out of her way to attack distant flying beasts, so they never got "too close" as she put it. To snapping at Silent whenever she playfully teased Yugi. While Yugi was someone unusually quick to forgive, forget, and befriend, he even thought this was a speedy turnaround for a dragon that wanted to kill him earlier.

"Are you able to continue?" Gandora said in a low voice. Yugi sat up and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, sorry for the detour. It honestly isn't that bad." Yugi replied. Gandora had turned her head to look him over. She didn't seem convinced but shrugged.

"Good, let's get the others." She pulled her tail away and turned her body entirely around. Yugi was about to get to his feet when she scooped him up and started walking the direction the others went.

"Uh, thanks? But I can walk just fine." He looked up to see her staring intently at his face.

"I don't want you changing colors again." She repeated in a low growl. Yugi mouth turned up in an awkward smile. He tried to hop out of her arms, but she held him tighter, once again squeezing the air out of him.

"My face is going to turn red from lack of oxygen if you keep doing that." He squeaked. She immediately loosened her grip so much that Yugi was able to jump out. As he stood in front of her, she crossed her arms. Once again, like his mom used to do when he disappointed her. "I'm joking, but seriously, I can walk. Thank you, though." Yugi smiled. Gandora huffed as she followed silently behind.

...

As they walked around the mountainside Yugi could tell they were high up. The view of the land below was almost completely covered in clouds. The trees on the mountainside itself were more spread out up here and disappeared altogether higher up. Strangely though, the oxygen amount was the same, or at least, not decreased enough that Yugi noticed.

"Weirdly, I can breathe really well up here. If I had been on a mountain this high in my world, I'd be out of breath." Yugi chatted. Gandora was much more open to talking now. The entire flight up had been filled with Silent and Yugi joking with one another with Gandora crashing into the conversation where she could. Silent spoke of her childhood friends, specifically a sword-wielding boy, while Gandora told of great battles her people had been in. Even Yugi got to tell of the Pharaoh and his friends before nausea stole his words.

"Why is it hard to breathe in your world? Is there a monster stealing the mountain air?" Gandora asked.

"No, nothing like that. It has something to do with science that I should probably remember from school." Yugi shrugged as he ran on. He jumped over rocks and climbed small boulders where he could. The entire time as he pretended to be a parkourer, he could feel Gandora's intense gaze on him.

"You talk a lot about this 'science' and 'school,' yet I do not understand what those are. Can you talk on something I do know?" Gandora asked.

"Ok, um… You seemed pretty interested in my family earlier when Silent brought it up. Would you like to hear more about them?" Yugi asked.

Gandora nodded. "Tell me about their history. As far back as you can go."

"Ok! Well, I already told you about the Pharaoh and his maybe history. We still aren't sure of his ancient past. So, I'll start with my living relatives. We Mutos live in a shop that sells games." Gandora seemed confused at the concept of selling games but remained quiet. Yugi was sure if she had a real question, she would ask him. He felt safe to continue on.

"This game shop was originally set up by my paternal grandfather when he retired from gambling and archeology. My grandma had been the first person ever to beat him in poker, though to this day, my Grandpa swears that he let her win. Those two chose to live in the shop together, as both didn't have any family left. On my mom's side, I never met my grandparents. I think that family didn't like who my mom married and disconnected themselves from us." Yugi looked back to see Gandora growl. At first, he was worried something happened, but then he realized it was for his maternal family's actions.

"As I said, I never met them, so I have nothing to be too down about." Yugi quickly said, not wanting to sadden the dragon. This was not the time to discuss how it had always hurt him not to know what one side of his family was like.

"They might as well be dead then. Continue with the living." Gandora said as the two stepped over a small ravine, Gandora hovering her hands just a few inches from Yugi in case he somehow failed to jump the one foot crack in the rocks. While Yugi ignored her overprotectiveness, he was more than happy to skip to the family he actually knew.

"So, my Grandpa and Grandma had one son."

"Was he a strong man?" Gandora asked.

"The strongest! If he wanted, he could lift my mom and me at once! He worked at Grandpa's shop until he could legally live on his own. The way my Grandpa put it, 'he stayed until he blew out the candles on his eighteenth birthday cake. Then he was off.' My Dad then started working as security in this big company and because of that, he got to travel all around the world.

"A few years later, my Grandma died in a car accident. Soon after my Grandpa closed the shop and went back to archeology with his friend. He's the friend I told you about, the one that discovered the Atlantis ruins and found duel monsters in ancient Egypt?"

"Arthur Hawk?" Gandora guessed.

"Close enough." Yugi grinned. This made Gandora smile back. "Well, the reason I bring them up is that one of the first monsters they discovered was you. Or I should say they found the name Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction in hieroglyphs."

"Really? How long ago was this?" Gandora asked, even stopping her steady stride in surprise.

"Uh, they discovered the name in Egyptian ruins many years ago, before I was born. The ruins would be over five-thousand years old." Yugi replied. Gandora nodded to this.

"That would make sense. Gandora as a species was at their height during that time." She said as she continued walking. Yugi quickly followed. In his haste, he almost tripped on the rocky ground. Almost being the keyword. He caught himself before his second foot left the floor, but Gandora still completely wrapped her tail around him and made him stand straight. Yugi eventually fought out of her tail and ran ahead. Yugi then continued his family's story to hopefully distract Gandora from grabbing him and forcefully carrying him.

"So anyways! My Grandpa came back from Egypt after nearly dying in a cave-in. He told my Dad and my Dad's new girlfriend, a few years later, the girl that would be his wife, about his experience. My Dad really liked your card's name by the way. He thought it was tough. Then my dad went off and joined a private army."

Gandora froze at the word 'army.' "He joined it? Of his own free will?"

"Yes!" Yugi answered, a little worried why Gandora would even ask that. "Though my Grandpa hadn't been happy with him at the time. Those two had been fighting a lot after my grandmother's death." Yugi then shook his head. He knew he shouldn't be talking about that kind of stuff with his new friend and quickly changed the subject. "My Dad got a very high rank in that army... Anyway, my Grandpa reopened the game shop and my mother had me!" Yugi said gesturing to himself with overacted pride. Gandora caught onto the playful joke and excitedly clapped.

"Thank you, thank you — an important moment in all our lives. Years later, my Dad joined my country's army instead of the private army. This caused him to have to move around a lot more than before. Because my mom needs specific doctors, we couldn't travel with him. We had originally lived in Japan, but so we could take better care of my mother, we moved in with Grandpa. Now, we still live with my Grandpa in his game shop to this day."

"Huh," Gandora said, trailing off as she looked into the distance. She seemed to be thinking deeply about something. Yugi wondered if she was thinking of her own family when she spoke again. "Are you happy with your family?"

"Of course! I couldn't have a better family if I tried. My Grandpa is the one that got me into my love of games. My Dad may be gone a lot, but he calls so often it doesn't feel like it. The Pharaoh is always with me. My Mom, while she's in bed often thanks to her sickness, is still the best in the world!" Yugi declared as he jumped on a large boulder. He was smiling at just remembering his family. He then turned around to see Gandora's solemn face. All the happiness she had earlier was gone.

"Gandora? You ok?"

"Your mother is sick?" Gandora asked.

"Oh, I suppose I didn't explain that the best, didn't I? Well, she's always been like that, so I don't think about it as weird. But yes, we think she has an autoimmune disease…" Gandora face became even more confused. "Err, her body doesn't like itself sometimes." Yugi corrected. "But despite that, she has always been by my side. She was my first friend honestly." Yugi said. Gandora's eye remained trained on Yugi. She then slowly walked up, looking over him again.

"Is… is it possible…" Gandora trailed off.

"If what's possible?" Yugi asked.

"Is it possible that she isn't your mother? That they aren't your family?" Gandora asked in a low voice. This surprised Yugi so much he fell backward off the boulder. Gandora once again caught him, but Yugi jumped out of her arms faster than she could squeeze.

"What do you mean?! Where did that question come from?" Yugi asked. Gandora shook her head and growled. Her growl didn't seem directed at Yugi and more at herself.

"It's nothing. It was a stupid question. You are clearly human." Gandora said as she quickly walked past Yugi without looking back.

Yugi stood silently by, trying to figure out what in Ra's name did Gandora mean by that. "What?! Why wouldn't I be human?!" Yugi yelled as he chased after Gandora. He was not going to let her trail off mysteriously this time.

As Yugi ran around a large rock pile still calling Gandora's name, he found all three duel spirits. The three were staring up at a large flat rock wall, taller than even Gandora. This wall was utterly smooth from top to bottom. Yugi found this strange, even in this perfect land. The perfection of the other rocks had at least let the stones be bumpy and misshaped. This looked like the wall had been smoothed by hand.

"What is this?" Yugi asked as he walked up to the three.

"It was the portal to the other domains, but something's off about it." Silent wrote. Gandora shifted her weight from foot to foot and eventually turned away.

"This is the portal I used to get in. It looks perfectly fine." She huffed. She then came face to face with Yugi as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot.

"What do you mean asking about my human status?" Yugi asked. He was not going to let her off this time just because of a new weird thing.

"I said you were human. Are you not?" She quickly asked, a little excitement in her voice

"I am human, but why was that even in question? Why wouldn't my mother or my family be mine?" Yugi asked, keeping the dragon's gaze with his magenta eyes.

"I said it was a stupid question." Gandora waved away. Yugi walked closer to her and kept his gaze. Silent and Kuriboh were now watching the two. They tried to look like they weren't staring, but neither was good at acting.

"Asking something like that is not like you." Yugi steadily said.

"Drop it." Gandora bared her teeth. Yugi did not back down. He was going to get some answers this time if it killed him!

"HEY!" Silent Magician's azure words appeared between the two. This brought them out of their staring contest, and they faced the little mage. She seemed honestly worried, and Yugi dropped his crossed arms.

"Save your little argument for another time. This wall means things are worse than we thought!" Silent continued to write as she pointed at the rock wall. "This means we can't leave this domain and that the Legendary Knights are all out banished! Not just missing!"

Yugi's eyes widened at her words. "How are the Legendary Knights involved with this?" He asked. Silent then proceeded to explain the Legendary Knights' role in the worldwide lockdown. The entire time Gandora kept making slow steps backward. Steps that didn't escape Yugi's notice. After she was done explaining Yugi let one hand rest on the Millenium puzzle as his other hand scratched his head.

"How are you not freaking out right now?!" Silent wrote. Kuriboh echoing her with wild squeaks.

"Because… I kind of already guessed this?" Yugi sighed. The two monsters continued to get more panicked.

"What?!"

"I guessed that the Legendary Knights were banished or something like that. All because Gandora already admitted to wishing them away." At this Silent's arms fell limply to her side as her eyes slowly landed on Gandora.

"I'm sorry, I would have pointed it out earlier, but I thought everyone was on the same page," Yugi said as he gestured to the retreating dragon. Gandora froze and turned back around to face Yugi. There was no judgment in Yugi's face; this seemed to calm down Gandora.

"When did she admit that?" Silent slowly wrote, each word appearing and disappearing before the next came

"When we were talking at the white tree. She said how the Legendary Knights had blocked out her people. Then she said how we were going to send the Gandora away, like the Knights. And she also said yes to knowing about the Wishing Well before we explained it to her. Though, that doesn't quite explain how she got to even make the wish if the Knights were stopping Gandora from entering. Despite that, I thought we all came to the same conclusion and forgave her for it." Yugi explained. He turned back to the group just in time to see Silent Magician send a sizeable magical blast towards Gandora. "Guess not!" He yelped as he jumped in front of the explosion.

Thankfully Kuriboh was nearby to stop any damage, but that only seemed to enrage Silent and Gandora more. Silent no longer used her magic to communicate and instead lunged at Gandora with wild abandon. Yugi caught her as she jumped over him. She fought in his grasp, and while it was awkward to hold her down, her physical strength was not more than a child's. Yugi looked up, expecting to see Gandora raring to fight. While the dragon was in a battle stance, she seemed a little nervous.

'Why would she be so nervous now? She was strong enough in the past to destroy much stronger monsters.' Yugi's brows furrowed for a second. Then, like the last puzzle piece clicking into place, all his strange theories suddenly made sense. The answer that had been right in his face the entire time finally clicked in his brain.

"You have zero ATK points!" Yugi gasped. Both Kuriboh and Silent looked to Yugi with raised eyebrows, but Gandora's face turned grave. Kuriboh then came up to Yugi's side and nudged into him. Their way of asking what Yugi meant.

"This answers nearly everything, even the hole in my wishing away the Legendary Knights idea," Yugi said. He looked down to see if Silent would cooperate and stop trying to throw herself at a dragon. The mage blew out a large breath, brushing aside her silver hair.

"I withstood her destroying my home and attacking us. But I can not stand her any longer! She banished the Knights! This won't just affect us. This hurts everyone! Let me at her..." Her last words disappeared before they were entirely written. Silent didn't seem to mind as she kept fighting Yugi.

Yugi continued to hold her down. He briefly thought the dragon would try to run or fight. Gandora did neither. She stood tall; she even looked a little proud.

"I knew you'd figure it out eventually little Yugi. I just wish you didn't say it out loud." Gandora said. Kuriboh turned to Yugi with the same questioning look. Yugi sighed as he shifted his weight around to keep Silent down but still turn to Kuriboh.

"The Gandora race must naturally have 0 ATK points. This is why Gandora told me she 'walked' into this domain and was telling the truth. Their species does have less than 1500 ATK points. The Knight must have still stopped them though when they tried to come in, because of their destructive habits. But, I'm guessing you were allowed in Gandora. All because you gave up fighting, or whatever 'fighting spirit' Giga was talking about. While in here you wished the Knights away so your people could come in."

"Wait! That can't be true! She's way too strong to have 0 ATK." Silent wrote while still fighting Yugi's hold.

"That's where that weird explosion ability I used to my advantage earlier comes into play. I could never quite figure out how it worked. I also couldn't figure out why Giga wanting me to stab your neck was suppose to be a good thing. Now I know. Gandora gain ATK by having damage done to them. The more damage, the stronger the Gandora are. Eventually, it all builds up to one big explosion. Or it can taper off until they are at zero again. Every time we saw her doing something powerful was after she was hurt or purposefully hurt herself. Like Giga slapping her before our fight. Or punching a tree so a branch would hit her in the head." Yugi said. Yugi kept his eyes on Gandora as the dragon slowly pulled her arms around herself.

"Giga demanding that you stab me would have hurt me beyond repair, but I would have had such a spike of energy that I could have destroyed everyone within a fifty-foot radius," Gandora admitted, looking away from the group. Yet, she still had a proud smile on her face.

"The damage you take will always be more than the damage you give out. And I think you used the last of your energy fighting off the flying beasts this morning. You're at zero." Yugi continued.

Gandora solemnly nodded. "Back in ancient times, we used to be able to equal, even surpass the damage we took with power. But that ability has been lost to the ages. The Gandora's greatest secret and biggest shame. We are possibly the weakest monsters in the land." She then turned back to the three. "That's why we came here. We couldn't take the war anymore. We were dying left and right."

"That doesn't mean you get to ruin it for everyone else!" Silent wrote in such jagged and sloppy letters that the group could almost hear her scream the words. "Now we are forever trapped because of your wish! That's not even counting how much you have all destroyed in this land alone!"

Gandora turned away and growled. "That's why we are going to the well right? To wish us a new home and to get the Knights back. It's the only way you weaklings could ever get rid of us anyway." She said in an annoyed voice.

This seemed to put Silent over the edge. Yugi felt as his whole body got lighter. Before he could stop her, Yugi was thrown off by her levitation magic. His back hit the rock wall, and he groaned as he slid down. This put a fire in Gandora eyes that Yugi hadn't seen before. She roared with such ferocity that it even made the anger blinded Silent pause for a moment. The dragon looked around and saw a boulder about the size of her. Silent saw it too and sent another large blue bolt of magic between her and it. Gandora managed to jump into the air and hover for a second, dodging the blast. Gandora then ran full force into the boulder. The power shook the ground and made Yugi and Silent fall off their feet. The crash seemed to hurt, but Gandora soon stood back up, claws and teeth seemingly sharper.

"That didn't give me a lot of power, but it should be enough for you pipsqueak. Even if you are his beloved, I won't hold back!" She growled.

Silent used her magic to regain her footing quickly. She silently snarled at the dragon and used her magic to move herself once again. She plopped on top of a ledge higher than Gandora and started sending rapid-fire blasts at the dragon. Yugi had to run for cover as Gandora took the bombings. Slowly, step by step, Gandora began to fighting through the storm of magic and make her way to Silent. Silent soon realized her attacks were only making Gandora stronger and instead focused on making one big orb of her blue magic. Gandora used this time to charge at the ledge and attack the rock Silent was standing on. This destroyed the ridge and Silent began falling with the rocks. SIlent seemed just fine with this as she still had her magic attack ready. She looked down at the open maw, crimson light growing in the back of Gandora's throat, and fired her strike.

"Stop!" Yugi screamed. He couldn't get between them in time, and he feared that this would be the end of one of his friends. Then Kuriboh jumped between the crimson breath and azure blast. All three spirits glowed in a rainbow of colors, and then a flash of white light exploded between them. Gandora and Silent were thrown in opposite directions as Kuriboh multiplied many times over, all the puffballs pushing the two girls apart.

"She destroyed my home and took the Knights! She will destroy everything!" Silent wrote, but the words only remained in the air for a second as the two were further separated.

"I can not apologize for how we Gandora must be! And I wasn't even the one that wished the Knights away! All I wanted was just one of my hatchlings back!" Gandora cried, her roar starting fierce but ending in a low squeak.

"Everyone stop!" Yugi yelled as he got to his feet and ran to the ever-expanding Kuriboh mob. "Thank you for being the sensible one here, buddy," Yugi whispered to one Kuriboh, hoping this one was his. All the Kuribohs answered with happy squeals and wiggling arms.

"Who wished them away then?!" The words appeared before Gandora. Yugi only glanced the words briefly and from a backward angle. Thankfully he could read backward thanks to all the riddles that used backward lettering to hide their answers.

"The dragon that watches the wishing well. He offered to use his wish, so I would not lose mine." Gandora said. She had given up on fighting the Kuriboh mob and laid back in the brown sea. Accepting whatever fate awaited her.

Silent was still aggressively battling the fluffy, living ocean as she magically shouted, "Liar!"

Yugi watched as she fought. She was slowing down. No one could resist a full Kuriboh mob. Yugi could even see the mage beginning to cry.

'It must have been hard for her to work with a dragon that helped destroy her land. I didn't even realize how much it might have hurt.' Yugi thought with a frown. Berating himself for not noticing his new friend's pain sooner. Yugi knew Silent Magician would eventually tire herself out soon and he could try talking to her then. He instead turned to Gandora.

Yugi walked through the Kuribohs, it being much easier for him as the mob actively moved aside for him. One even jumped into his arms as he walked to Gandora's side.

"I don't care who wished the Knights away. I want them back. I will happily use my wish to do so. However, I still have one question, why do the other Gandora not like you? If it is true you got that guardian dragon to wish the Knights away, it was so the other Gandora could get in. You seemed to have done nothing but save them." Yugi asked. Gandora looked up towards the unmoving sun and sighed. She then reached out and hugged Yugi close to her. Yugi didn't fight it and found himself sitting on Gandora's stomach.

"I've never been right. I've always hated fighting. Not dueling for the fun of it, every duel monster loves that, but the fighting for dominance and battling the war made us do. Gandora are made to fight, and that is something I could never do. As a non-fighter, I could still be a brood mother. The only brood mother in the last hundred years in fact.… I've had so many clutches, each grew up, went off to fight, and never came back." She then looked back down to Yugi. "My last hatchling was a lot like you, a boy that didn't like fighting either but loved his friends. He too eventually… died… and that was it." This was the weakest Yugi had heard Gandora's voice. Someone that tried so hard to sound strong breaking down hit Yugi hard. It seemed to get Silent's attention. The mage even paused in her fury to listen.

"I had nothing more to give the army, the 'fighting spirit' as Giga called it. Even by giving others freedom, it wasn't enough for them. Asking for help from the wishing well's guardian didn't help either. I, '…made the Gandora look weak by begging.' So, I was nothing. They left me on the mountain top as they explored the new land. They only came back for me to fight you. During that fight, I realized after you said no to Giga that…" Gandora once again looked over Yugi and the tiny puffball in his arms. There were no tears, but Yugi could see the pain in her face. She then shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. They're right. I'm weak. I couldn't even get you up the mountain." She said no more after that.

Yugi felt his heart fall all through her explanation. Yugi did his best never to hate anyone. Everyone was a hero in their own story. But now he really, really, REALLY, **REALLY**disliked the other Gandora and the war that took so much from them.

"You're not weak," Yugi whispered.

"What did you say?" Gandora asked.

"You are not weak!" Yugi yelled. "Get that thought out of your head! You are not weak! We are going to get up the mountain and save this land and your people. But you are strong enough not to go back to them! You are far beyond their immature ways!" Gandora sat up and looked down to the determined Yugi with awe and surprise. She had not heard Yugi talk like this before. Yugi wouldn't call it a smile that came to her face, but it was better than before.

Then a small rock bounced off Gandora's head. The two turned to see Silent had thrown it, but it hadn't been in malice. She had done it to get their attention.

Silent Magician had her arms crossed and held close to her body as she swayed in place. She was debating something as she wiped away her tears. She then tried to write something magically, but only a poof of blue glitter shot from her hand. She soundlessly growled and looked around at the now disappearing Kuriboh mob. In the disappearing duplicates, she found Yugi's sword. She used it to start writing in the ground. Yugi looked to Gandora, and the two shrugged. Gandora let Yugi hop off her belly, and the two slowly made their way to Silent, looking for any sign of hostility. There was none. Once by her, they read the words Silent was writing in the ground.

"Why do I have to relate to you? It makes it very hard to hate you." She wrote. "So here is what we're going to do. We are getting to the top of the mountain; I'll use my wish to get the Knights back and if you're still determined to help those horrib- the Gandora, Yugi will use his wish to get a new land and send them away." Halfway through her paragraph, she ran out of space and had to erase her old words to make room. But none the less the three got her general meaning.

"You, don't mind using your only wish on my people?" Gandora asked.

Silent shrugged as she handed the sword back to Yugi and looked up at the dragon. The two girls nodded to one another.

"You guys are not going to fight anymore?" Yugi asked with only one Kuriboh left, the one still in his arms. Kuriboh seemed exhausted. They didn't even look like they could move after using their most potent ability.

"We can't promise." Gandora shrugged. Silent simply smiled to Yugi. With Kuriboh out of action, Yugi sighed and had to be content with that.

"Ok then, that's better than before! Let's go!" Yugi announced. Kuriboh squeaked in agreement. They looked to see if Gandora could fly, but the damage was too high. She could walk, and that was enough for her. Before Yugi could ask if she was alright, Gandora led the way up the mountain, not looking back and not looking at Silent Magician.

…

As the three left behind the rock wall that had once been the portal out of the Dominion of the Beasts; a dark swirl of multiple colors appeared on the smooth rock. Out of this swirl a small figure appeared, this boy was about as short as a toddler. He had blonde hair and green skin. Though the green skin was odd for a humanoid monster, the boy's most notable feature was actually a sword several times larger than his own body that he lazily held over one shoulder. He was soon followed by a taller girl with orange hair and light skin. This girl had a sword and shield. Each of these duel monsters was wearing the blue and white colors of the Silent archetype.

As the two adjusted to the sunny day, the girl looked up the mountain. In front of the boy, pastel green magic lettering appeared in the air.

"There's the brood mother, but where are the others? I thought they wouldn't leave such an important member such as their only breeder alone?" She wrote. The boy shook his head. His sword glowed silver. Then messy lettering appeared in the air.

"It does not matter. We get her, the others will follow. What I want to know is why Silent Magician would be here and how she so easily followed the dragon? It did not even look like she had a control device or mind spell on the brood mother." He wrote as he began to walk out onto the mountain ledge. He then tripped on his long blue coat and fell face-first into the rocky ground. The girl soundlessly laughed and wrote.

"Come now Silent Swordsman. Is that any way to start a mission?"

Silent Swordsman looked up with a noiseless growl as his companion continued to chuckle. He then magically wrote as he got to his feet. "I am not used to being leveled down. You are lucky Silent Paladin. You do not have to lose levels just to get through this cursed barrier. It has been too many years since I have limited my power like this."

"Speaking of too many years, do you really think we can face Silent Magician if she gets involved? She was your childhood friend." Silent Paladin said. She put her hand on her hips as she thought.

"This will be awkward, but easier. Azure has never been able to say no to me." Silent Swordsman smiled as he looked up towards the mountain top. Soon other Silent monsters came from the portal. All were wielding weapons bigger than their bodies and holding long black and red cords. "Let us get back the Gandora."


	13. The Second Dragon of Destruction

"Is there a particular reason you had to find out this information in the middle of the night?" Seto asked as he led Yami and Dark Magician to his office where his private computer was.

'I needed an excuse for being on your roof, and this required answering eventually.' Yami thought. He couldn't say that out loud, so instead, he remained quiet. Seto huffed and fell silent too as he set up his computer.

This had been the first time Yami had been in Kaiba's official office. His CEO office was made to make anyone feel small compared to its high ceilings, elegant decorations, and floor-to-ceiling windows to the city far below. Kaiba turned on no extra lights when he led Yami inside. Only the yellow flash of the city, and the blue glow of his laptop illuminated the room. As Kaiba leaned over his computer, two separate lights shadowed his face, reminding Yami of Kaiba's mad and hollow expression during the Death-T games.

Seto Kaiba was someone Yami could never figure out. From an outside perspective, the CEO didn't seem that close to Yami; he was even cold to him. Yet, there was so much more between them, more than even the rivalry their close friends saw. It was the same unexplainable feelings that Dark Magician produced in Yami. Seto was a dear friend, and yet he was also the Pharaoh's enemy. He was constant support on all their adventures, and he was also an obstacle to them and himself. While Yami found it hard to define his relationship to Seto, Kaiba must have had an even harder time.

Seto, back when he dyed his hair green, (Yami still had as of yet to get a reason for that choice) had been one of the first to realize the difference between Yugi and Yami. Back when Seto had also been a broken shadow of a teen, he guessed and exploited Yami's and Yugi's strange connection. He used his four Game Masters to push the two to their limits. Then, using that collected information, he ultimately tried to destroy them and their friends in a bid to show that he was the best. Of course, Yami had beaten him, and as he did with everyone back then he had given the new CEO a penalty game.

No matter how guilty Yami felt for his past actions during those first months, he would never take back what he did to Seto. Kaiba had been so warped by his step-father's abuse and his own need to prove he was the best that there was no other way to help him. If Yami thought about it, shattering Kaiba's mind like that was a big risk. If Kaiba wasn't strong enough, he would have become brain dead. Yet, like Dark Magician, Yami had an unwavering faith in Seto that he still couldn't explain. Just like as the pharaoh thought, Kaiba slowly grew into a better, healthier man. There seemed to be only one side effect. Once Seto healed, he either forgot or chose to ignore shadow magic, completely.

Seto became the greatest skeptic Yami had ever seen, pushed to the point of purposefully remaining ignorant. Most surprising of all, Seto no longer saw Yugi and Yami as two separate entities. As far as Seto was concerned, there was one King of Games, and it was the shy Yugi Muto. Yami didn't know if the CEO's brain did this to help protect itself in the healing process or if Seto chose to be willfully ignorant. Either way, this made the situation extremely hard to explain as Yami stood awkwardly beside Seto's desk.

"Legally, KaibaCorp never had a private army," Seto said, pulling Yami out of his thoughts.

"Téa seemed to know of it," Yami replied.

"As I said, legally. KaibaCorp only manufactured and distributed weapons. But, KaibaCorp did work closely with a private army known as Checkmate. KaibaCorp used them so often that we pretty much paid for all its expenses and controlled all its orders."

"But KaibaCorp didn't own it," Yami said, guessing the loophole. Seto nodded, keeping his eyes on the screen as he continued to go through more and more file security.

"While Gozaburo didn't own it, he happily let his enemies know how closely he worked with Checkmate. I remember him bragging about how they would do anything for him. No government would dare fight him on this tiny loophole, so yes, he did 'have' a private army." Seto went silent again as he continued typing. Every few moments, he would pause and rest his chin on his hand. Then after pondering something for a few seconds, he would quickly return to typing.

"Are you breaking into something?" Yami asked, clasping his hands behind his back.

"No, I own everything here. The problem is Gozaburo, before he put himself in a computer, destroyed all of this. After the whole Noah adventure, I managed to find all the pieces of these lost documents. However, that is all they are, pieces. After I got the data I wanted out of this, I left this information shattered. That way if someone tried to take over my company again, they wouldn't know what to do with it." Seto explained.

"Hmm, I suppose it was for the best that people like Dartz didn't get this runaway information," Yami said. Seto then glanced at Yami from the side of his eye. His expression, unchanged.

"Speaking of runaway. Why were your friends calling and declaring you missing? They just about blew up my private phone with messages." Seto asked, his voice as cold and accusing as ever.

Yami kept up his unreadable expression, but his clasped hands held just a little tighter to each other. If only Seto would believe that Yugi and Yami were different souls, then he could explain everything. If Seto wouldn't even believe when there were literally two different Yugi's standing in front of him during the duel with Dartz, he certainly wouldn't believe now.

"Same old, same old," Yami said. Seto derisively chuckled at this.

"Oh really? Is the world ending again? Should I prepare for another company-wide take over?"

"No, but this information is still just as important," Yami said with a sideways shrug. Kaiba kept one eye on the pharaoh as he continued.

"Are you running away from something? If you are, I won't have you bringing it to KaibaCorp's door or, in this case, roof."

Yami felt his lips thin. "Kaiba, have you figured out yet how those holograms went wild all those months ago? Dartz said it was because he was summoning duel spirits, but we both know that can't be true." Yami innocently asked. Kaiba immediately bristled at this.

"What does that have to do with this?"

"Nothing, just wondering," Yami said as he looked away, knowing Kaiba had all his attention on his body language. For a few heartbeats, there was no sound in the darkened office. Then, Yami heard the tapping of the keyboard again and felt safe to turn back around. Even when Kaiba refused to accept magic, there had to be some part of him that knew. Yami just had to be careful to talk to that small part, the small part that also trusted him just as much as Yami trusted Kaiba.

"So how important was this guy to Checkmate?" Seto asked.

"He was definitely a part of it?"

Seto turned around and gave Yami an annoyed glare. Yami could only keep up his blank look. If Seto knew how little information Yami had to go on, he'd probably close the laptop here and now.

"You don't know?" Seto just about sneered. Yami nodded. Seto sighed and started scrolling through data Yami couldn't read or understand.

"Do we at least have a name?" Seto said. This was an obvious question that Yami should have had an answer for, but he didn't. He couldn't think of one in time. If he said Junior's name, he might dig up more trouble and questions than he wanted right now. If he had difficulties covering for being on Seto's roof, how would he explain looking up his "father's" shady past?

Yami remembered earlier in the cab when he had talked about this with Grandpa. What was Junior's connection to Gozaburo, and how did it connect to this random duel monster? Now Yami knew it was because Grandpa didn't feel like it was his place to tell that information, but that just made Yami more frustrated. Why did he have to talk to that coward, just to find out a maybe important connection to the Dragon of Destruction?! This might be a clue to Yugi!

'That name has a lot of history for our family…' Grandpa's words echoed in his memory.

Yami's eyes widened as he thought of an idea. It was a long shot, but it was better than nothing.

"I need a name, Muto." Kaiba impatiently repeated.

"Try, Gandora or Dragon of Destruction."

Seto's eyes to widen for a second. He then quickly shook his head and turned back to the screen. Almost immediately files came flying up after typing that name. Seto's eyes narrowed, his annoyed expression turning back into a full-blown scowl.

"What is it?" Yami asked as he leaned in to see better. Seto briskly stood up, blocking the screen from Yami's view.

"Walk to the other side of the desk. Now." Seto said steadily, leaving no room for argument. Yami recognized that voice and did as asked, keeping his hands behind his back as he walked.

"What's wrong?" Yami asked.

"You are not seeing this kind of KaibaCorp information. I'll tell you what you need to know, but that's all." Seto replied as he sat back down and began deciphering.

"You don't trust me?" Yami asked. Seto paused for a moment and shook his head.

"If you were forced to choose between your friends and this company's secrets, I know you'd tell all this information. Probably draw a lovely diagram too," Seto said, a ruefully chuckle at the end.

"I'd hope you'd do the same if stuck between people's lives and a company," Yami said, his arms folded in front of him as he tried to play it off as a joke. "How would that situation even come up?"

Seto looked up at him with a gaze that froze Yami's spine. "Most likely if the government or hitmen wanted to find out where this guy went. This 'Dragon of Destruction' has killed too many for him not to have a list of enemies a mile long."

"K-killed?" Yami breathed. At that word, all the warmth left in his body flew out. Leaving nothing but an empty chasm of a chill. This cold seemed to take his heartbeat and his breath. "He killed?" Yami tried to recollect himself, but that frigid word stopped any expression from coming to his face other than horror. Yami had been lucky, for the last few years, "kill" had not been part of his vocabulary. It had always been "banished to the Shadow Realm" or "locked away in a card." Never killed.

Seto seemed surprised at Yami's reaction as he raised an eyebrow and sat back in his chair. "Yes... Is this 'dragon' some villain you have to stop? It would fit his profile to try and take over the world or something insane like that. Loves the pain of others, driven to dominate, genius-level intelligence. If Checkmate had been an official part of KaibaCorp, this Dragon of Destruction would have been at the level of the Big Five." Seto said as he crossed his arms and looked to Yami, his eyebrow still raised.

Yami was frantically picking up the pieces of his self-control as Seto waited for him to speak. It felt like Yami's heart and his lungs were aggressively dueling on his intestines. That soft-spoken man that couldn't even face an angry woman? The man that Grandpa thought so highly of? The man that hurt Yugi so much every time he left for long periods? Killed? Killed?!

Yami's violet eyes then locked with Seto's icy-blue, the same blue color as the three dragon spirits that surrounded him. Dark Magician, in turn, had been slowly floating closer to Yami's side the entire conversation. This reminded Yami that he had to be strong, for Seto and the spirits watching. He shut his mouth and exhaled a long, cold breath. Then he spoke in his controlled pharaoh voice.

"What happened to him?"

"Official records say he died, but I understand my step-father's subtext better than most," Seto answered as he went back to deciphering the broken files. "I'd guess he wanted to quit. I don't know if he wanted to take over a different army or if his war crimes were catching up to him. Either way, he knew too much for Gozaburo just to let him go. This is all speculation that you are never to repeat, but I think there was a great fallout between the two. I don't know what the dragon did, but he managed to walk away, leaving Checkmate to crumble in his absence. This Dragon of Destruction probably has a different identity now and has been lying low, if my step-father hasn't somehow killed him. The last report on this guy was eleven years ago." Seto explained. The entire time his eyes flicked to Yami to see his reaction. At that point, Yami had gotten control of himself and showed nothing, or at least he hoped he showed nothing.

Seto watched him a few more silent moments, then he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I worked very hard to make sure KaibaCorp's crimson-stained past does not affect my new KaibaCorp. I clipped off every loose end I could. This dragon though... How do you know his name?"

"I needed his information because I met some people claiming to be Checkmate reborn," Yami found himself saying. Kaiba immediately straightened up when he heard Checkmate's name. Yami then quickly backtracked. "But they were nothing but a small duelist gang." Yami made up, impressed at his ability to make up such a story when earlier he couldn't even make up a reason for why he was on the roof. Amazing what true panic can do to someone's lying abilities. "I already took care of them. I just wanted to check everything about them."

Seto's eyebrow immediately shot up. Yami couldn't tell if it was because he didn't believe him, or he was surprised. "Really? Are you sure you took care of it? Perhaps I should send someone to look into them. If this dragon or his friends are still around, they could cause a lot of trouble for KaibaCorp. If he can be found, I need to know."

"No need. They were really nothing. They were just punks, too young to be in the original Checkmate. They probably just heard about the private army and wanted to copy them." Yami shrugged. "I heard them say the Dragon of Destruction's name when they were fighting over who's nickname should be what. I wanted to check it out because I thought I heard it before. Now I realize it's the name of the newest dragon in Duel Monsters." Yami sadly shrugged as he sighed, trying to sound disappointed. "You're right. The dragon's probably dead. Goazburo wouldn't let someone like that live long."

Silence

Dead silence.

Then Seto put his hands, palms down, on the table and stood up.

"Well, that makes this entire fact hunt completely useless. Thank you, Muto, for keeping me after hours for no reason." Seto growled. Yami hid his relieved smile.

"Sorry to take your time," Yami said as he started to turn away. "Better safe than sorry, though."

"You can't even make up for wasting my time with a duel?" Seto asked. "The whole reason I even let you in my building was because I had expected one." Yami didn't turn back to him, and instead, dismissively waved his hand. Seto tutted and slumped back in his chair. Yami was almost to the door when he heard Seto again.

"Huh... By this report, the Dragon of Destruction was the person to lead the attack on Alister's village. Sure, he was under orders from the real Gozaburo, but I always wondered who actually led that attack if Dartz was only there to pretend to be Gozaburo. Maybe I should let Alister know? He would do all the work of taking care of him if the Dragon's still alive." Seto said with all the pretense of talking to only himself.

"No!" Yami yelled. Seto looked up, a slight smile peeking through. Yami realized that this is what Seto had wanted, the pharaoh had shown his hand. "It's just… Alister has worked so hard to move on from his need for revenge. You would be opening up a wound he has spent the last few months trying to heal." Seto once again raised an eyebrow, this time it was clearly in non-belief.

Before Yami could kick himself, his cellphone began to ring. He didn't jump this time; he only gave a slight nod to Seto and left his office. He was going to make the situation worse by staying around and opening his mouth again. Why was he suddenly so bad at this? Was not having Yugi around really affecting him this badly?

Once down the hallway, Yami pulled out the phone to see the number was Grandpa's game shop.

"Hello?" Yami tentatively greeted.

"Yugi! What are you doing?!" It was the frantic, but still soft-spoken voice of Solomon Jr. Hearing this prickled all of Yami's nerves. He looked around the dark hallway just to make sure no one was around. Had his voice always been so creepy?

"I walk by your room to find you out of bed! No note, no message! Where are you?!" While Junior was clearly angry, he was still trying to whisper. Yami guessed this meant the others weren't awake yet. Yami slapped his forehead and sighed.

"Sorry, I'm coming home now."

"You better be!" Junior's voice then lowered to a true whisper. "Are you ok? Are you safe?"

"Yes, I'm safe. As I said, I'll be home soon." Yami replied, trying to end the call sooner.

"…Yugi… Are you in trouble?"

"Trouble?"

"With the law or gangs or... something!"

"No… nothing like that." Yami sighed. While Junoir didn't make any noise, Yami could almost hear his questions. "I'll explain everything when I get back. I'll be home in fifteen minutes. Please, can you hang up now?" Yami begged.

"…Of course. See you at home. And I'm keeping you to that time! A second longer and I'm waking up the hounds."

"Very well." Before Yami could hang up, he heard,

"Love you Yugi. Please, be safe." It was said with such sincerity that Yami paused.

Yami stared at the phone as he hung up. 'No, this can't be the Dragon of Destruction Seto talked about. This has to be a coincidence.' His grip on the device tightened. 'If that's not the connection to the Dragon of Destruction, then there has to be another reason that card is so important to the family. I just have to talk to Junior.' Yami thought as he turned towards the elevator, only to see Seto leaned up against the corner. Kaiba's face was in his resting scowl as he looked over Yami. The same expression he used when he was figuring out a misbehaving piece of technology. Beside him were the three heads of the Blue-Eyes White Dragons as they looked around the corner, the same scowls on their faces.

"Who was that? He didn't sound like your Grandfather." Seto said, his voice leering in superiority. "What was that about you not running away?"

Yami's mouth turned down as he strode past Seto, Dark Magician taking on the same prideful stride. Yami walked into the elevator, the woman no longer being there, and pushed the button for the ground floor. He kept constant eye contact with Seto as the doors closed, not saying a word. There was nothing he could say.

…

Seto waited a minute, leaning on the wall the entire time. Once he was sure Yugi was out of the building he too got in the elevator. He didn't go to the ground floor though. He instead went down a few levels. Once again, only the bare minimum of lights were on. Seto didn't mind as he had his building memorized. As he walked through the almost empty offices and desks (a few occupied by people racing to finish their assignments), he thought back to the strange situation Yugi Muto once again laid in his lap.

'The Dragon of Destruction, one of the few to beat Gozaburo at his own game.' Seto thought, trying to look back through his memories. He had to give kudos to the mercenary general, that is an achievement Seto thought only he had ever earned. He then pulled out a disk from his pocket. Something he had gotten from the shattered files.

"The Dragon of Destruction…" Seto said to no one. He put the old disk into the company printer. It took a while for the machine even to read it since it was so ancient. As Seto waited, he continued to think back.

As a child Gozaburo never had him interact with Checkmate. By the time he was old enough to work with them, they had fallen so far from grace that they were more of a security team. Of course, by then the Dragon had "died." What Seto would have given to meet the man back then. Too bad he was a liability now.

As the printer started its work, Seto found his memories touching times he rarely thought about anymore. He did meet the Dragon of Destruction once, many years ago…

…

Seto hated the clothes the butler had forced him in. The collar itched, and if he dared get a single crumb or drop on it, he was dead. To avoid that death sentence, he had avoided eating or drinking the entire party, not that there was much of either for a child like him. This was a 'business gala' or something lame like that. It was a place for big important people to show off and mingle. At least the last party like this had been exciting thanks to the interruptions caused by a particular pink-haired foreigner. That family had not been invited back, and Seto knew they never would be. If Seto still let himself morn the past, he might have been sad to lose the one interesting aspect of the last party. He might have even tried reaching out to the boy between events. However, Seto gave up on the past a long time ago. Now any disappointment was learned from and swiftly forgotten.

Seto's only job at these parties was to look smart, act polite, and be a trophy for Gozaburo to show off. Once his step-father had made the rounds to everyone, Seto was left alone in a corner. His throat was itchy both inside and outside, his stomach refused to shut up, and his mind was filled with the buzzing static of boredom. To entertain himself he tried to listen in on people and learn their secrets as Gozaburo suggested, but these people were just as dull as the party. Seto could read their deepest secrets and desires from a mile away. It just wasn't fun anymore.

Seto groaned and rested his head against a wall, though he quickly straightened when someone came by. They had a plate in their hand and a glass of wine. Seto smiled, that innocent smile he practiced with Mokuba, but they didn't even give him a second glance. Seto's smile quickly disappeared and he sighed. The party still had many more hours. Seto knew he was in for a rough ride.

'It's all so Mokuba doesn't have to do this.' Seto repeated to himself. Remembering his brother's smiling face cheered him on. With that thought in his mind, Seto decided to at least try to do something useful with his time. His eyes scanned the large ballroom packed with people dressed to the nines. That lady worked with that company hoping to outpace her competition. That man is hiding the fact his company is failing. That man is cheating on his wife with that one's girlfriend, and they're both trying to hide it. Blah, blah, blah, it was all the same.

Seto's gaze then landed on a strange man; he didn't recognize him or what company he represented. Whoever he was, he was really twitchy. Seto watched as he slowly walked across the large ballroom, his eyes darting every which way. Seto's eye then widened as he watched the man reach into purses and pockets, their owners not noticing a thing. The man wasn't stealing wallets though; he often came up empty. However, the occasional time he pulled out folded papers or disks of some kind. Seto watched as he did this with nearly everyone. Kaiba then saw as he headed for Gozaburo's turned back. Seto knew he had to go into action. He abandoned his corner and ran to the nearest man, pulling on his suit. While Seto couldn't remember the man's face, he did remember how short he was.

"What is it?" The man asked in a soft voice.

"That guy's stealing things," Seto said as he pointed to the twitchy man. The short man turned just in time to witness the stealing of Gozaburo's newly signed contracts.

"Good eye champ. Go tell your dad, I'll deal with the thief." The short man then slipped into the hallway. The twitchy man also left the main ballroom room, but he exited a different door. Seto was worried that the short man wouldn't be able to catch up to the robber, but he had been asked to do something by an adult. Seto immediately ran over to Gozaburo.

Gozaburo Kaiba saw Seto coming his way and ignored him. Seto had expected this and knew if he pulled on his suit as he had done to the other man he'd be in a lot of trouble. So, he quietly waited to be acknowledged. Gozaburo kept trying to wave him away discreetly, but Seto would not budge.

"What is it, Seto? I told you to wait in the corner." Gozaburo eventually growled.

"A man stole your stuff, and a short man went to stop him," Seto said, making sure he controlled his voice, so he didn't sound like a little kid making up stories.

"What?!" Gozaburo's eyes narrowed as his mustache bristled. Just then, a woman screamed right outside the ballroom. Thankfully most of the other party-goers didn't hear, but to both Kaibas it was ear piercing. Gozaburo immediately ran to a set of double doors and threw them open, Seto not far behind.

Out in the hallway was a few groups of chatters, or they were chatting. Now they were all deathly silent as they stared. The short man had grabbed the thief by his collar. The thief tried to twist away, but the short man used his other hand to punch the thief straight in the gut. Before the thief could even gasp, the short man quickly lifted him over his head. He then threw the thief violently into a wall, breaking a vase using the thief's body. As the thief tried to get up, the short man pulled out a razor-edged knife from his pocket and held it to the thief's throat. While Seto may have forgotten most of the man's appearance, he would never forget the utterly twisted smile cracked along his face. It was like this whole evening had been building up to this point for the short man. This was the funniest game he had ever played, and he was about to win.

"Dragon!" Gozaburo yelled as he ran to the short man's side. Seto stepped out of the ballroom and let the doors close behind him, but he didn't get any closer to the scene. His little body seemed frozen at the time.

"Oh, hey Boss! This little pickpocket has been getting grabby with everyone's things. Want me to take care of it?" Dragon asked, his grin never leaving. He then pushed the knife's point a little harder on the thief's throat. A trickle of blood dripped down his neck. The thief immediately began begging for his life. Seto, even through his fear, found his nose turning up at the thief. He would never beg like that.

"I told you! I did not want a scene here, Dragon!" Gozaburo exploded. Seto unconsciously stepped back, putting a table between him and his angry step-father. "I am also not your boss here; we are just companies that work with each other!"

Dragon didn't move, but his smile disappeared. Even with the creepy grin gone, Seto found himself more on edge. "Sorry, but I am just doing my job. I hope you're not trying to get in my way." His voice was back to being soft, but it was different from the ballroom. While this voice was gentle, there was no emotion behind it. Nothing to show he was actually apologetic. Its tone sent a shiver down Seto's spine. There was only one other time Seto remembered hearing a voice like that, and that would be many years after this.

Dragon's reply got a reaction Seto had never seen from his step-father before, his father's anger immediately disappeared. He started fidgeting with his tie and shifting his weight from foot to foot. Was he…scared? Seto's mouth drop open. Never in all his life had he ever seen Gozaburo scared. Nervous maybe, but never frightened.

"Well, it's just the adrenaline of the night that's putting us on edge. Nothing to get worked up about." Gozaburo quickly said. He then looked around at the still silent crowd. He whispered something in Dragon's ear and walked briskly towards the ballroom.

"Come, Seto," Gozaburo growled. Seto solemnly nodded and started to follow his step-father when that cursed voice spoke again.

"Wait, I need the boy. He's a witness, and I need to make a report for the police." Dragon smiled. "It'll only be for a moment."

Seto looked up at his step-father's eyes to see that fear return. Gozaburo looked down at Seto and seemed almost apologetic for a moment. However, that shred of humanity soon disappeared under his step-father's famous scowl.

"Well, get going, boy." Gozaburo gestured for him to follow Dragon. Seto obeyed, but it wasn't without some hesitation.

"Don't worry! He's completely safe with me." Dragon yelled to Gozaburo as the CEO closed the doors to the ballroom behind him. Dragon then got the thief to stand as the other bystanders filed away. They clearly did not want to stay by Dragon either. Seto simultaneously wished he was lucky enough to walk away and glad that he had to stay. This was way better than being stuck in a corner.

"Come on, you're going to walk with us." Dragon said to the thief, lazily swiping the knife across his neck again. It didn't break the skin this time, but it might as well for how much the man flinched. "Don't do anything funny now. We have a child walking with us. If I feel he's in any danger, I won't hesitate to… 'defend him.'" Those words seeped a chill into Seto. Dragon talked about "defending him" like it was the peak of pleasure.

The three walked in silence away from the party, the bright lights disappearing as they moved to a dimmer part of the building. They then took a sudden turn into a dark room. Seto for a moment, looked back at the party, wondering if he should run for it. Then the room's lights flicked on. It was a small servers lounge. It had two chairs, a kitchen, lockers, a soda dispenser, and a candy machine. Now that the lights were on Seto felt braver and strode right in, passing in front of the two.

"Do you mind waiting over there, champ?" Dragon asked as he gestured to one of the chairs. Seto obediently sat down, his hands gripping his knees. Dragon then went to a locker and pulled out a black duffle bag. In this bag, he had zip ties (Seto chose not to think too hard on why he had ties or a knife at the ready), and he used them to tie the thief's wrists to an exposed pipe. He then went through his pockets and pulled out all the stolen items.

"Trying to steal company secrets huh? Well, we'll just let the police deal with you tonight since the Boss is busy. I'd consider that as a lucky break." Dragon smiled. The thief grimaced back and nodded emphatically. After making the call to the police, Dragon came over to Seto and sat across from him.

"Been a fun night, hasn't it?" He asked. Seto slowly nodded, trying to study the man without letting him know he was doing so. They sat quietly for a bit before Dragon leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. "You're bored out of your mind, aren't you?"

Seto looked up in surprise, was he really that bad of an actor? He thought he had gotten his fake interest down pat, or maybe this man was just good at seeing through façades?

"I… didn't grow up in this environment. It's taking me some time to adjust." This had always been Seto's excuse for when he wasn't the perfect son in front of others. It usually worked, but Seto couldn't tell if it fooled Dragon or not.

"I've been in this kind of environment longer than you've been alive and I still haven't gotten used to it. Being paraded around isn't easy and worst of all, it's boring." Dragon said. He kept his smile up, but it had lost its creepy edge. The smile became warmer as the two relaxed. It was almost what Seto imagined a fatherly smile would be.

"Exactly!" Seto said before he could stop himself. He then flinched at his childish outburst.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Dragon said. Seto noted how he didn't even miss his small flinch. "You have no reason to fear me. Your dad may have been looking at me back there like I was going to eat you, but I promise I'm not. My name may be Dragon, but I don't eat little children." Seto said nothing and continued to study Dragon. Dragon's smile faltered a bit as the silence continued. "That's your cue to laugh." Seto kept silent. "Wow, tough crowd."

"Is your name really Dragon?" Seto cut in. Now that Seto knew this man wasn't going to scrutinize him as his step-father's friends would, he chose to jump right to what he wanted.

"Huh? Oh yes, I should say my full name is Gandora, Dragon of Destruction. I would go by Gandora but my… co-worker's name is Pandora. So to keep it easy to yell across a field, everyone calls me Dragon."

"That's not a real name," Seto said, crossing his arms. He didn't like it when adults lied to him.

"It too is real." Dragon said as he too crossed his arms and made a pouting face. Seto realized that Dragon was copying his expression and scowled even more. The boy felt his anger boil up. No one made fun of him. His face must have turned red because Dragon chuckled and sat back.

"Well... it's real enough for me, and that's all that matters." He reiterated. Seto's stomach then cut into the conversation. Seto gripped his gut and gritted his teeth as the growl seemed to reveal his weakness.

"Geez, that is quite the demon trying to get out." Dragon said as he got up. Seto looked up with furrowed brows. "Don't worry; it's just a saying in my family for growling tummies." Dragon said as he went over to the machines and bought a few things from each one.

"Your dad should have known there would be nothing for you to eat or drink here. Just wine and weird hors d'oeuvres that a child would only touch with a stick." He said as he brought over some candy bars and a can of orange soda. He put them on the table in front of Seto and sat back. "Choose whatever candy bar you want… except for that one." He quickly pulled away a strawberry bar. "I'll save that one for my son. He loves it when I bring back strawberry candies from other countries."

Seto stared down at the ice-cold drink and pile of candy, he felt his mouth watering. He started to reach out, but his itchy collar reminded him that he couldn't risk it tonight. He pulled back and fiddled with his uncomfortable collar.

"Oh right, that would be a problem if you got that messy." Dragon said as he started to unbutton his suit jacket. To Seto's surprise, he wrapped the large jacket around him like a bib. "There, it's a rental, so it's fine to mess up."

Seto looked up at Dragon to make sure this wasn't some kind of trick. Once he found the coast to be clear, he took the candy bars and immediately began munching away, downing the soda every other bite.

"Woah, you were hungry." Dragon said. As Seto crunched, Dragon pulled back his sleeve so he could see his watch. That is when a colored tip of a tattoo caught Seto's eye.

"Is that a duel monster?" Seto asked as he pointed at a tattoo barely poking out from under the sleeve. Dragon looked down at his wrist and smiled.

"You want to see?" he asked. Seto nodded, and Dragon pulled back his sleeve to show a whole arm covered in tattoos. Most pictures Seto couldn't make out, but some were duel monsters and other creatures Seto didn't recognize.

"You like duel monsters?" Seto asked, his eyes wide.

"You could say that..." Dragon petered off before returning with a smile. "My parents raised me on games like this. It's even where I got my name from, believe it or not."

...

The rest of the night was lost to the fog of time. Seto remembered after the party his younger self had put Dragon in many future schemes to get Mokuba out of the mansion. Goazaburo knew that Seto only took his abuse as well as he did because he was protecting his little brother. Gozaburo made sure Mokuba was always within his reach, even forbidding the boy from going to extra activities or having friends to keep the leash on tight. If only Seto could get Mokuba to make friends with Dragon's son, Mokuba would finally be away from Gozaburo. However, none of those ideas ever came about. Now Seto knew by the next party he was allowed in, Dragon would have disappeared. Back then, Seto had filed it under another disappointment and forgot about the strange man that made even his step-father scared.

Seto was pulled out of his thoughts as the picture finally printed out. This picture was from a subway station's security camera. It showed a family huddling behind a wild-haired man. In front of them was a dying homeless man laid out across the ground. That was not what interested Seto though, what did was the short, wild-haired man. He was about in his late thirties. His hair was styled back, but Seto could see the three colors it contained. Blonde bangs, black body of hair, and crimson red tips. Seto was surprised to see the tips were not magenta, but the CEO shrugged it off as genetics. What sealed the deal for Seto was this man's eyes and crooked smile. They were exactly as he remembered them from the party all those years ago. It also reminded Seto of another grin in another time. In the darkness and even occasionally nowadays, Yugi's face took on the same twisted smile that Dragon's did.

"Like father like son, Gandora, Dragon of Destruction," Seto said. He would have to make a house call to his rival's home very soon.


	14. Riddles

Yugi and spirits were closer to the top then they had ever been before. They were miles higher than Yugi could have imagined from the base of the mountain. The air was still comfortably breathable, and the weather was, well, perfect. Not too hot or windy, made stranger by the unmoving sun. The walk wasn't even as hard on Yugi as the wild Gandora flight had been earlier, even though they were almost at the peak. Yugi would have given up anything though to go back to that nauseating flight because now things were just so awkward.

While Gandora and Silent at least weren't fighting, they refused to talk to one another. Gandora wouldn't even look at the little mage. Yugi would try to start up conversations like the fun talks they had on the way up, but Gandora only grumbled, and Silent didn't have the magic to write. It just ended up with Yugi talking to himself with Kuriboh squeaking unintelligibly. Even then Kuriboh didn't give much of a response because of still being drained from using their greatest move to keep the girls from destroying each other.

'We just have to make it to the well.' Yugi thought to himself. He then looked up at what was ahead of them. He could see the peak where the wishing well was. Before that point, the path Gandora was leading them on wound around the mountain, blocking their actual journey from view.

"Hey Silent, didn't you say that riddles and puzzles were blocking the wishing well? Are they around that bend?" Yugi asked. Silent nodded and pointed to a gate hanging open about half a mile ahead. Yugi thought that the gate might be the beginning of the riddles, and this made him smile a little. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he had been secretly excited for this part.

"You don't have to worry about them slowing us down, little one. I destroyed those on my first go around. Those cursed puzzles won't bother us this time." Gandora said, her eyes fixed on the peak.

"You what…?" Yugi gasped as Silent too looked up in horror. The mage's face then went red, and she began pointing threatening at Gandora, or as threating as a tiny, non-magic girl could be. The way Silent waved made Yugi glad that she couldn't communicate at the moment. Instead of a verbal or maybe another physical fight starting, Gandora only rolled her eyes and continued along. Gandora then looked to Yugi to see his reaction to her destroying the riddles.

"I shouldn't be surprised." Yugi sighed. He quickly recollected himself and kept walking with a smile on his face. "I suppose that just means we can fix everything faster." He said in a bubbly tone. Gandora watched him for a few moments, then her scaled brows furrowed.

"Did you want to solve the riddles?" The dragon asked. Yugi looked forward and held Kuriboh closer to him. He didn't want to sound selfish, but he also didn't want to lie.

"Kind of? I mean I want us to get to the wishing well as quick as we can, but riddles are one of my favorite things to do next to games. Doing magical riddles in a mystic land seemed pretty fun." Yugi admitted.

Once Yugi was done Gandora looked ahead without another word, no response to him or Silent Magician. Yugi sighed again and kept trucking along. This quiet and unsaid tension was making what should have been the easiest part of the journey more tiring than scaling the mountain's side.

Silent Magician then came up beside Yugi and put a hand on his arm. Yugi could tell by her expression that this was her way of showing she understood what he was trying to say. This made Yugi smile again and put a happier pep in his step. Kuriboh, for a moment, whined but quickly fell back asleep.

As they continued quietly along, in the side of Yugi's eye he noticed that Gandora once again was watching him. Yet, when he faced her, she looked away. Yugi thought about trying to say something when the group came around the next bend and found themselves in front of the gate Silent pointed at a while back. Just as Gandora had said, it was completely blown off its hinges, and any decorative statue beside it was rubble. No one reacted; they simply went about climbing over the ruins. Yugi didn't even fight Gandora as she lifted him over the mangled metal.

In front of them, the path twisted erratically, rubble and ruins along the road the entire way to the peak. Yugi immediately recognized where the riddles would have been in the past. Other than the fact there was nothing but rubble in those areas, he also immediately felt better as he passed by a destroyed riddle. The unnerving perfectness of the land disappeared in the wake of Gandora's first trek up here. As they moved through the devastated area, going straight and ignoring the path at this point since they could see the end, Yugi couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness. The morale of the group was already pretty low, seeing what should have been a magical gantlet of riddles reduced to ashes did not help. Yugi couldn't help but imagine that this was what the Gandora was doing to the land below. He was helping these dragons, these monsters of pure destruction.

Yugi looked back to Gandora, she had her determined eyes fixed squarely on the peak. She almost had the same expression the Pharaoh had when he was getting ready to duel. The heavy weight in Yugi's stomach lightened a bit. He reminded himself that he was helping her and this land too. That was definitely worth it.

…

After traveling a few minutes, the most open area came up ahead of them in the form of a vast meadow with many giant piles of green stones.

"This was some big castle before," Gandora explained as they walked through the large space. While Silent and Gandora wanted to move quickly in this area, Yugi found himself fascinated with the rubble. He had never seen stones like this, it was smooth and green like scales, but it was clearly carved rocks. He bent down to get a closer look at the debris. It sparkled in the sunlight like emeralds even though it was half-covered in ash.

Suddenly, the rocks began to shake.

"Ah!" Yugi yelped as he jumped back, holding Kuriboh tighter to his chest. Both girls immediately turned around ready for a fight when they saw the rubble too. The rocks continued to shake as its blackened edges started to melt away to show untouched green stone beneath. Once the rocks were clean, they began to roll towards each other. Once they found a partner, they immediately reconnected as if they had never broken apart. The rocks didn't just attach to the nearest stone though, but instead seemed to be heading for specific partners, even if that meant they had to roll right into Yugi's legs.

Yugi was taken by surprise at the speeding rocks. They hit like trucks, and he nearly fell back before Gandora caught him. She then picked him up and started running for it. Yugi was about to ask what was up when he noticed Silent had also jumped onto the dragon's back and was holding on tight.

"I thought we had more time! We have to get out of here before it fully fixes itself. Or else we might be rebuilt into a wall!" Gandora yelled as the small rock piles remade themselves into green bricks around them.

As Gandora charged through the rebuilding palace, bricks seemed to jump on top of each other as random tapestries re-spinned themselves from thin air and hung themselves on these new walls. The speed in which this happened got faster and harder with every brick added. Soon the group was being entombed by flying bricks and magically appearing furniture.

Yugi saw why everyone latched onto Gandora, as she could run the fastest, but even her long strides didn't seem like they would be long enough. Yugi had to cover his head, and Kuriboh's still sleeping body when a whole dining set's worth of chairs rebuilt themselves from splinters and came flying at Gandora. The dragon took the damage like a champ, blocking Yugi and Silent the best she could as her ruby orbs glowed brighter. Yugi then looked ahead to see bricks flying past them. There seemed to be one last wall in their way, but it was rebuilding the fastest. There was a hole Gandora could jump through, but by the time she would get to it this crazy building would have blocked it up.

"Gandora use your breath on that wall!" Yugi ordered on instinct. It was the same voice he used for ordering his monsters to attack in duels. Gandora on the same instinct immediately obeyed, opening her maw as red light blasted out. Simultaneously, a spark came from the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi didn't have time to dwell on that as Gandora's blast shot right through the rebuilding wall. The shot sent shrapnel everywhere, making a hole that the group had to jump through before the palace closed in on them. Gandora did just that and leaped through the hole, collapsing in the open meadow with a crash to rival the building's frenzied construction noise.

Gandora then let Yugi go, and Silent quickly jumped off her. The two were fine, and Gandora could have been worse. They all looked back at the green palace. While the rest of the building was finishing fixing itself, Gandora's new hole remained broken and unmagically touched. The two then looked farther up the mountain to see Gandora's stream of crimson breath did not stop at the building. It had kept going, making jagged holes through rebuilding gates, tablets, and contraptions up ahead. In fact, it was still going farther up the mountain, not stopping even though Gandora had stopped breathing it.

"Woah." Yugi couldn't help but say. Silent, her eyes trapped on the destruction, reached over and patted Gandora on the side. Yugi looked to the dragon as she got up. She was just as surprised as the rest of them when it came to the power of her breath.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Yugi asked. Both Silent and he looked up at the frozen dragon. Gandora then shook her head and smiled wide.

"Of course, I am a being of destruction after all! I've… just never had it be that destructive before." She admitted. She then looked down at her body and took account of her wounds and the light levels in her ruby orbs. Yugi noticed as her eyes widen when she saw that her orbs were still glowing brightly.

"Is something wrong?"

"No… Usually, when I use something as powerful and focused as a breath attack, it drains a lot of my built-up power. It seems I still have a lot left though." She said as she tapped an orb on her shoulder and then shook her arm. That light level did not lower, so she shrugged. "I must have more power built up then I thought." She shrugged.

Yugi nodded to her, though he had to hide a frown. More power meant she was more injured then even she thought.

Silent Magician got the two's attention as she pointed up the mountain's peak past the clouds. The crimson streak that had been Gandora's breath finally petered out right before the top.

"A lot more power than I thought," Gandora repeated before shrugging again and walking forward. Silent also started, not even looking back at the building that almost buried them. Yugi though, couldn't stop looking at the structures that just remade themselves.

"You guys aren't going to question that?" Yugi asked as he ran to catch up with the two.

"Question what?" Gandora asked, Silent also looked back at Yugi with the same questioning expression.

"The buildings fixing themselves? This whole area is magically repairing itself, and I'm just supposed to accept it?"

"The human world doesn't fix itself every month?" Gandora asked. Yugi shook his head. "How does anything get fixed after wars or battles then?"

"We either have to work together and fix it, or leave it for time to figure out," Yugi explained.

"How is anything still around then?" Gandora asked. Silent then went to Yugi's side and made him lift his arm. She shook his arm back and forth and then gestured to Gandora's muscled arms. "Right, humans aren't made to fight like us monsters are," Gandora said as she patted Yugi's head. The three then started walking again. "In a world where every creature loves to duel the environment gets pretty torn up. While I love a blackened forest or a newly created ravine, most monsters don't. There is magic in every domain that will fix the land to a predetermined state every month or so. I'm guessing Dark Magician Girl would be the one to control what is the fixed state in this land. She might have even sped up the healing this time to compensate for the other Gandora."

Yugi could only shake his head, he should be used to facts like this. This truly was a different world from his. Then he realized something that put a smile on his face.

"Wait, does that mean the Gandora destroyed homes and forest have been fixed?' Yugi asked. Gandora looked down at him with a sad smile and Silent continued without looking back.

"If they were part of the before state, then yes. I know for sure that forest by Dark Magician Girl's castle has regrown by now." Gandora said.

"That's great!" Yugi cheered, then he noticed Silent's well, silence. "But not everything's been fixed, has it?"

Gandora could only give another shrug. "The predetermined state could have been chosen before other houses were made. Those houses wouldn't have have been fixed in that case. That's why we have to get to the wishing well, I suppose. So more stuff isn't destroyed by the Gandora."

Yugi fell silent and nodded. So, it wasn't a perfect fix, but it was better than nothing. Then something Gandora said made Yugi look up at her in surprise. She didn't refer to the Gandora as "her people." The dragon was once again focused on the peak. Yugi put his focus back on the journey in front of him, but he hoped that this was a sign of growth. He hoped.

The group continued to travel for the peak, still unimpeded even though everything was fixed. Because of Gandora's super-powered attack, there was a climbable hole in every roadblock. As they climbed through, Yugi found himself fascinated. A completely different culture made these buildings and statues that they were skipping. He couldn't help but stare. He found himself studying the fixed structures (the ones without a newly created hole) and noticed something. Even though things were fixed, they still didn't have the creepy perfection everything else in this land had.

"Why aren't they perfect?" Yugi asked as he switched the STILL sleeping Kuriboh over to his other arm so he could point. The two girls turned to see what he was asking about. Silent seemed confused, but Gandora then snapped her clawed fingers.

"That is a question I had too. I noticed that the month I lived on the mountain before getting the nerve to go up to the wishing well. Why are things always perfect, but when they are fixed after being destroyed, they're not?" Gandora asked. Silent looked between them like they were speaking gibberish. Yugi wouldn't blame her for how badly Gandora asked that.

"Um, you know how things are unnervingly perfect?" Yugi tried to ask. Once again, Silent shook her head. Gandora groaned and gestured for Yugi to continue on.

"She doesn't see it little one. I'm guessing as the Domain of the Beast's Silent Magician she probably doesn't notice a difference." Gandora whispered to Yugi before returning to climbing the mountain.

Yugi looked back to Silent Magician, who was not happy to be whispered about. "You really don't feel strange here, like everything around you is fake?" Yugi asked. Silent tilted her head and walked slower with Yugi. He then tried to point her towards some parts of the environment that had that unnatural perfection. Then he pointed to the destruction and fixed areas. Silent looked over them, and Yugi could tell she really tried to see what he was showing. Then she reached out and tried to summon her magic. A blue spark came and for a split second,

"Fake?" she wrote before the word fell apart.

"Not quite fake. I know this world is real, but… did your parents ever have some vase or china doll you couldn't touch? It was often the most beautiful thing in the house, but you knew if you touched it, your parents would kill you? This entire land has that feeling. Like just me stepping on this grass is going to get me reprimanded because it's so perfect?" Yugi tried. Silent still seemed just as confused.

"The Silent archetype doesn't have parents! They are born when the last oldest dies! Now come on, slowpokes!" Gandora yelled farther up the mountain. "We have wishes to make!" This got the two to race to catch up with Gandora, but Yugi had more questions. If this land is so different from his then it makes sense that these nearly immortal creatures would have different lives too. Silent only talked about her childhood friend during their journey up the mountain, so this was the first Yugi heard anything about the Silent archetype as a whole.

"You didn't have parents?" Yugi asked, hoping he wasn't rude. Silent smiled at him and nodded. She then waved her hand and spoke using as little magic as she could.

"After Legend Knights trapped by Dartz, Silent protect borders. We any type, any level. Fit anywhere," she wrote. This made Yugi think back to his Silent Magician and Swordsman card.

"Really?"

"Yes. Guard more too. Why think I come on suicide mission for wishing with only one human help?" Silent soundlessly chuckled. "What more, human just met?" Yugi felt his cheeks gain a red tint as he shrugged.

"I didn't think of that. I just thought you had a real sense of justice or something like that to volunteer to come with me."

Silent then reached over and pulled Yugi into a friendly hug, ignoring Kuriboh's half-awake squeaks. "Glad come."

"Me too, if you didn't… I don't think I could have done this alone." Yugi grinned. "So, your whole species are protectors?" Yugi asked, impressed more and more by the petite mage. Up ahead Gandora guffawed so hard she almost got caught in a hole in a wall she was trying to crawl through. Silent's face immediately fell into a frown as she crossed her arms disapprovingly.

"Maybe they were protectors once. Now they are more of mercenaries than any guardians." Gandora just kept laughing. Yugi worriedly glanced to Silent to see if another fight was going to break out. But instead, he saw all of the mage's happiness leave her face. She only looked down at her shoes. Gandora then continued, "They were supposed to be non-partial when they replaced the Legendary Knights, but that was thrown away a long time ago. Power was just too enticing. Why else do you think the Legendary Knights went right back to their old job?"

Yugi kept looking to Silent for her side of the story, but she did everything she could to not lock eyes with him. Her shoulders slumped as she looked away, like a child after being scolded.

Yugi bit the edge of his lip as he tried to find something to say. "Well, ignoring them, you seem like a real protector to me. You saved our butts more times then I can count with your levitation magic."

Silent looked up with wide, bright eyes. Her mouth was slightly open in surprise. Then she shook her head, the light disappearing from her eyes.

"She right." Was all she wrote.

"Hey!" Both Yugi and Silent looked up the path at Gandora. She had stopped her hurried climb and was looking back at the two.

"Don't go misinterpreting my words. I said the other Silents were bad apples, but all Gandora know the Silent Magician of the Domain of the Beasts is not one of them. You were exiled long before the others went bad." Gandora said. Both Silent and Yugi stopped in their tracks. Yugi shocked that Gandora would defend Silent like this after nearly an hour of not even acknowledging each other. Silent looked just as awed.

"Wait, wait, exiled?! Am I allowed to know the full story here?" Yugi just about whispered. It felt like if he talked any louder, he would be ruining something.

"Yes, what is the full story? All the Gandora know is that the Silent Magician of the Domain of the Beast is not one seen as a Silent archetype anymore. It is the only reason the other dragons didn't kill you on sight." Gandora said, her intense gaze on Silent. Silent for the first time, shrunk from the dragon's look.

"I got in way of friend. He and others hate for it. Exiled self here-" Silent wrote. She tried to do more, but her magic sputtered out.

Yugi once again found himself flabbergasted at his friends' lives. He couldn't hide his horrified face as he read her last words. He then tried looking around for something she could write or carve on. The only things around were the perfect mountain rocks, and the less perfect metal scraps of what used to be puzzles before Gandora's breath blew through.

"When you can communicate again, and we fix this land, I am sitting both you two down. We are figuring out your sad backstories!" Yugi said while pointing at the two. The two seemed surprised at the bite in his voice. "Ok? Now let's keep trucking. The faster we fix everything else, the faster I can really talk to you guys." Yugi said as he started heading up again. "I want to help. So don't go running off."

The two girls remained quietly stunned, then Yugi glanced behind him to see the girls look at each other, shrug, and follow him. As the two silently followed Yugi wished he had the speech skills of Téa or even had her by his side then. What was next? Was Kuriboh going to come out and admit they was abandoned as a child? Yugi could only shake that thought away and focus on keeping up his smile. It was one thing he felt he could do to help in this situation.

…

They were at one of the last puzzles when Gandora seemed to get very excited all the sudden. Her tail started swishing wildly back and forth. The group was currently in a stone maze that would have been tricky if Gandora's breath hadn't made one path for them.

"Wait, guys," Gandora said as she stopped and started staring at a blank wall.

"What is it-?" Yugi began before Gandora reared back her fist and punched right through the wall. With how powerful her breath had been earlier Yugi was afraid the punch would be so strong that the whole place would come down on them. Yet, the punch only made a hole big enough for Gandora's fist, which was still a human-sized hole but nothing as amazing as her last attack. Gandora seemed confused by this too as she looked over her fist.

"Needed to get some destruction out?" Yugi asked, now used to her need to wreck things.

"No, well yes, but that wasn't the only thing I was trying to do!" She said as she punched again and this time ripped a hole barely big enough for her to crawl into. Her orbs no longer had any light in them.

Gandora gestured for the two to step back and she crawled inside first. A few silent seconds later, her excited voice came from within. "I knew it was here! Come on, come on!" she just about squeaked. Yugi and Silent looked to each other, shrugged and crawled through the pitch-black hole.

On the other side was a closed-off room. It was only lit by two blue burning torches and was so small Gandora had to crouch down. She was smiling wide though, with her tail wiggling like crazy. In front of her was a golden box on a pedestal. Yugi noticed that this box was about as big as the one that carried the Millennium Puzzle's pieces; but instead of having Hieroglyphic carvings on them, had monsters of every kind scrawled across it.

"Woah watch it Gandora! You're going to swipe us off the mountain at this rate." Yugi giggled as he and Silent jumped over her happy tail. He and the mage stood in front of the box and looked around the room. It had no other doors or windows. It seemed like the only way in was to break the wall.

"Sorry, I simply recognize this place. It is where the wishing well guardian met me before. If you fail a riddle earlier, a trap door opens, and you fall in here." She then gestured to the ceiling where Yugi could make out the thin outlines of a double-door.

"Real?" Silent barely wrote.

"Yep, at the time I didn't have enough damage to break out, so he freed me," Gandora explained.

"What was the well guardian like?" Yugi asked.

"He was kind but… intense and occasionally creepy. I've seen him help some of the mountain residences the month I lived up here, but he would never talk to me. He would only stare at me from a distance. When he did talk to me, he kept making his voice unnaturally deeper, sticking out his chin, and talking like he was superior to me. I believe he was trying to scare me off my path." Gandora then shook her head (hard to do in this cramped space). "But that doesn't matter now. Look at this Yugi!" Her voice got unusually high as she pointed at a stain on the wall behind the box. She then grabbed Yugi and pushed him forward. She, bursting with excitement, looked from Yugi to the wall.

Yugi could only raise an eyebrow, at this point he was used to Gandora's quick emotion changes but the usually stoic dragon getting excited like this was new. He looked to her for some explanation.

"Well? I thought this one would be best. So I waited until we got here." She asked, excitement still in her voice.

"What?" Yugi asked.

"A riddle! I remembered this one even stumped the well guardian, and since I couldn't blow my way out, he let me skip it and all other puzzles ahead." She smiled, clearly proud that she had brought Yugi to this.

"Oh!" Yugi then turned to the wall and looked closer to see what he thought was filth was actually brown words.

"Well, you said you liked riddles, so here we are!" Gandora said as she put her hands together and tried stretching out her wings in pride. Of course, it was too cramped of a space for her to truly unfold.

"Thank you for remembering." Yugi grinned. Silent then tapped on the two and pointed out the hole they just came in.

"Oh, we can wait on the wishing well a little while. If you need a reason for being here, then we are resting." Gandora said. Silent tapped her foot on the ground and crossed her arms. "You can wait for a few seconds. I had my eyes on this place the entire walk up once Yugi said he wanted to do a riddle." Gandora smiled a sly smile. She then pointed at Yugi with her thumb. At that time, Yugi was studying the hard to read words and only turned away when he felt the spirits' eyes on his back. He tried to hide it, but he was really excited about a mystic riddle in this barely lit room.

Silent sighed a defeated sigh and then walked over. She took the sleeping Kuriboh from Yugi's arms and looked at the riddle too. She looked over the dirty script, and after the two worked at picking out the words from the ash, this was what was written,

_Two humans duel, and one immediately loses as soon as the battle starts. None attack and nothing was in the graveyard._

"Hmm." Yugi sat down as he thought it over. Silent followed, and the two soon went quiet.

"Human's dueling..." Yugi murmured to himself. As the two sat quietly for a minute, Gandora lost her excitement and started becoming more irritated.

"What's the point of a riddle if it takes this long?" Gandora eventually groaned.

"Patience," Yugi said as he smiled at Gandora and patted her snout. "I'm very thankful that you thought of me enough to bring me here, but now you're stuck. I'm not leaving until I solve this. The point of a riddle is to work through it, slow as that might be. Hmm, two humans duel…"

Silent then snapped her fingers and traced her finger over the riddle and wrote: "They talked it out and decided not to fight." Though she had nothing on her finger, the words became white on the stone. Once it was all written out, the words remained for a moment, then glowed red and disappeared.

"I don't think that was it. This was a full blow duel won even before the first punch." Yugi said. Silent then wrote "Surrender," but that was also not the answer.

"Why are you still trying? You got it wrong." Gandora asked.

"Again, that's the fun of a riddle. I'm not a fan of riddles that punish you for wrong answers. The whole point is to use your failures to find the answer. That is always what my grandpa said… Wait! Grandpa!" Yugi then jumped up and wrote, "One had all five pieces of Exodia first hand." The words were white, then glowed a bright green and disappeared. Then the golden box snapped opened.

"What?" Gandora asked.

"Exodia immediately wins a duel if you have all his pieces. My Grandpa used to have them." Yugi said proudly. He looked down in the box and saw a gold key with Exodia carved on it. He picked it up and looked around. He then glanced at the box again and realized one of the monsters on it looked like a keyhole. He put the key's prongs to the carving, and almost like they were magnetized, they clicked together. A wall then fell open beside them, making Gandora jump and hit her head on the ceiling. Yugi would have apologized for that if Gandora didn't give him a cheesy grin and a thumbs-up.

"You did it!" Gandora cheered as she stood up outside. They were now closer to the peak then if they had followed the path Gandora's breath made.

"Wow, again thank you Gandora. Thanks to this pit stop we are now farther along." Yugi said as he patted an orb on her leg. If dragons could blush Yugi thought she would have done so.

"I did something right…" She whispered more to herself. That didn't stop Yugi from hearing it. He was distracted though by Silent running up to his side and pointing at the disappearing name Exodia back in the room.

"Exodia? Yes, those were my Grandpa's cards. Sadly, we don't have them anymore." Yugi sighed. This got Gandora's attention as both Silent, and she freaked out over Yugi's family once owning such a rare creature. The group continued up the last leg of the mountain as they grilled him over his family's card ownership. Yugi could only rub the back of his head in embarrassment.

"My Grandpa had a lot of rare cards that he gave to me. Another rare card he had was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Gandora and Silent Magician stopped in their tracks and slowly turned back to Yugi.

"A Blue-Eyes? Does your grandpa have some rare magic attractor?!" Gandora laughed as she put a hand on her hip. Silent then pulled Yugi's sleeve. Her face told Yugi she wanted to know more.

"More about the Blue-Eyes? Err… The thing is I really didn't know her that well."

"The Blue-Eyes was a she?!" Gandora added, still laughing at Yugi's rare connections he treated as normal.

"She was, or I'm pretty sure she was a girl. She was initially Arthur Hawkins's card until he gave it to my Grandpa. I used to see her spirit growing up. She never talked or even interacted with me, but she was always a comforting presence. I tried to tell my family about her, but I quickly learned to keep my mouth shut about invisible dragons.

"My Grandpa eventually gave the card to me. She was pivotal to saving the Pharaoh in one of his first battles with Kaiba, back when Kaiba was… not so good. Then the card was ripped in half by Kaiba when my Grandpa lost to him later." Yugi saw as an extreme shiver went up both duel spirits' spines when they heard about the ripping. Even Gandora couldn't hide her horror.

"Well… I hope that dragon got back to our world before she ripped. The Blue-Eyes species is small enough as it is." Gandora said while crossing her arms. Silent Magician looked up to Yugi with wide worried eyes.

"I don't know if she got back in time. I didn't see her spirit around when the card ripped if that means anything. Why is the Blue-Eyes in such small numbers?" Yugi asked as he turned back to Gandora.

"There used to be tons of them. They were one of the few monsters the Legendary Knights fully trusted. Blue-Eyes need to pledge themselves to the strong. It's the same instinct that makes the Gandora destroy. Blue-Eyes could go through any border and often did to be the eyes and claws the Knights needed. Then the war with Dartz and the Leviathan happened. All the eyed dragons were on the front lines since they were the strongest. Only one Red-Eyes and four Blue-Eyes came back. We thought that at least the Blue-Eyes species would continue and replace the Knights since two males and two females remained. However, as fate would have it, the four couldn't stand each other. They all went their separate ways and us monsters had to find new guards." Gandora explained as she quickly glanced over to Silent. Silent didn't meet anyone's eyes again.

"But I see at least three Blue-Eyes together all the time. Kaiba has three cards, and those spirits never leave his side." Yugi asked. He had seen many times how protective those spirits were to their card partner. Even putting aside their seeming hatred of the Pharaoh to save Seto during the duel with Noah.

"I don't know all the details; this is all dragon rumors but if I have heard right… One female Blue-Eyes, probably not your Grandpa's dragon, found a spirit partner over five thousand years ago. After that, she never came back to the Duel Monsters world. I don't know what she found, but it must have been good because the two males followed her a few years ago. I think they tried to bring the other female with them, but she said no. Apparently, the two males were very offended by this rejection." Gandora then grinned down at Yugi like there was a shared secret between them.

"What?" Yugi asked.

"You haven't guessed? Ooooh, then I have a riddle for you!" Gandora happily said, a new skip in her step, which is quite a feat for a two-story-high dragon. "Who said no because she pledged herself to the Pharoah's family, is colored nothing and has skies in her face?" As the three walked, Yugi looked up with raised eyebrows as Gandora giddily looked down at him. He couldn't help but grin back at her riddle making skills. It wasn't the best riddle, but the fact she was attempting to do something she found annoying, for him, made it one of his favorites.

"My Grandpa's Blue-Eyes?" Yugi smiled. Gandora clapped and continued grinning. Something neither Yugi or Silent had seen a Gandora do for so long.

"I riddled!" Gandora cheered.

"Yes, you did!" Yugi also cheered.

Silent rolled her eyes, but not in the mean way Yugi had seen earlier. This was an eye roll that he saw from his friends when Joey and Tristan were bickering, or Seto was being edgy. This was so different from earlier. He may have called them this the entire adventure, but for the first time, he felt like friends truly surrounded him. If only his family and friends could be here for this. If only the Pharaoh could be here for this.

'If only the Pharaoh could stay.'

Yugi's smile fell, but he replaced it quickly. He then shook that thought away as speedily as he could. He kept up his grin for the others, but now it was fake. He hated how one stray thought could take all his happiness in an instant. It had been like this all the last year. It had even been something bothering Yugi the entire time up the mountain. Yugi had felt a timer on every happy experience. The Pharoah was leaving. While the Pharaoh at one time promised to stay by his side, Yugi knew that was a temporary promise. He didn't know how, but he knew the Pharaoh was going to leave soon. If the Pharaoh left, what would happen to all the magic in Yugi's life, including these duel monsters? What would happen to Yugi?

"There's the well!" Gandora voice crashed into his thoughts. Sure enough, over the next rise was the mountain's peak and, an admittedly average looking well. Gandora then frantically grabbed everyone and flew to the best of her abilities. She was still too hurt to fly fully, but gliding on mountain winds was just as fast.

In front of them was a small flattened area, the tallest on the mountain. They could see everything this unnervingly perfect land had to offer, even a new black scar growing across the valley below, most likely the other Gandora. Only the ledge behind them was out of their sight.

In front of them was a well about as tall as Joey. Its white stone was just like Yugi had seen in fairy-tale books. It had a simple wooden roof over the wheel the connected to the bucket that could be dipped below for water. The water was too low down to see, but Yugi could hear drips echoing around its base. Yugi wondered if anyone had actually drunk from this well because he sure wasn't going too. In fact, he wasn't even going to talk, just in case it could be interpreted as a wish.

Oppositely Gandora was now chattering on. She was gesturing around and pointing to where the well guardian once slept and where the other Gandora were teleported in.

"Gandora!" Yugi, half-whispered half yelled. "Don't we have to be careful what we say so… you know?" Yugi gestured to the well.

"Huh? Oh, don't worry about a thing. I already used my lifetime wish. You don't have to worry either. It takes a lot for the well to hear your wish." Gandora happily explained. The excitement was seen coursing through her entire body. Yugi then looked to Silent who seemed just as excited, if not a little nervous. Kuriboh was still asleep in Silent's arms. Yugi wondered if they should wake the puffball but decided to let them sleep. Kuriboh deserved rest after saving them these last two days.

"Really? Do we have to scream for it to hear us?" Yugi asked, wondering how Silent was going to wish.

"No, it takes someone saying some weird chant. Then your wish has to be in one sentence, grammatically correct in whatever language you speak in. Then you can't use names; the well doesn't distinguish creatures by names. It does distinguish species though, but it has to be in whole groups. So, you could say human and mean all humans, or in our case, Gandora." Gandora explained. Yugi felt like he needed a pen and paper to remember all this.

"Is that it?" Yugi asked.

"There's probably more. When the well guardian was explaining this to me, I really didn't listen past those rules." Gandora shrugged. Yugi then looked around the mountain top. He could see everything, yet…

"Where is the well Guardian?" Yugi asked. Gandora bristled for a moment, then sighed.

"He didn't like how his wish got rid of the Knights. He then tried to stop my wish by jumping into the well when it lit up." She said in a sad tone. "He's probably with the Knights."

"Did you at least get your wish?" Yugi asked. He had been interested to know what her wish was the entire way up here, especially since she admitted wanting her chick back. He didn't say anything until now though, not wanting to push Gandora and hoping she would bring it up of her own volition.

"I suppose I did, just not in the way I thought." Gandora then smiled wide, showing all her razor-sharp teeth. Yugi took a tentative step back, why did he feel like she was referring to him?

Silent then pushed past the two and looked over the well in awe. She gestured the others over, and they looked down into the well's darkness. Down at the bottom where the water dripped, a small radiance began to grow. It was white in color, and then as the light grew, it became blue, then it flicked to magenta. It suddenly stopped growing at basketball-sized and repeatedly switched between blue and magenta.

"It is ready for your wishes," Gandora said. Yugi and Silent looked at each other and nodded.

"First thing first, get the Knights, then move the Gandora," Yugi whispered. Not because he was worried it would hear. Out of respect for the area suddenly seemed to have.

Silent's face took on a determined look and turned to the glow. She began to write something in the air when Gandora suddenly roared.

Yugi and Silent jumped and turned to see Gandora fall backward, or more be pulled back by red and black ropes attached to her wings. When she fell to the ground, the ropes suddenly multiplied, and a pitch-black webbing seemed to creep across her body and cover her. She fought and roared, but this seemingly thin rope held her down.

"Gandora!" Yugi screamed. He tried to run to her side, but he was shot back with a large white slash flying through the air. It hit Yugi squarely in the chest and knocked the air out of him. He flew back and crashed into the wishing well's stone base with a Crack!

While the impact hurt, the magical slash was agonizing. It felt like a shadow magic attack, but this one lingered. It burned.

Like any attack in the Duel Monsters world, it didn't affect his clothes, but the slash across his chest and side began to bleed like a sword had swung through him. Yugi looked up, his vision blurred as Silent Magician ran to his side, worry and fear evident in her eyes. Then another attack from this unknown assailant came flying towards them. Yugi barely had enough energy to warn Silent. It was useless as the little mage did not have the magic to stop it as she was thrown aside, Kuriboh also thrown out of her hands at the same time. Yugi reached out for her but found it made the already burning wound scream. He clutched at his chest and looked up to see a group of little humanoids, all wearing blue, and white.

"No, no!" Gandora cried from under her web prison. Her voice held none of her usual strength and instead sounded terrified.

In front of this mob of little humans, was a green-skinned swordsman. Yugi recognized him from the card packet he opened with the Pharaoh. This one though was much shorter and younger than his card.

"Silent Swordsman?" Yugi barely said. This got the little boy's attention. He at first seemed annoyed with Yugi, but then his eyes widened when he saw the Millennium Puzzle around Yugi's neck.

As this was happening a group of four similar beings was walking to Gandora's side, each holding a single black rope that led to the web prison. The closer they got, the more Gandora fought, her own crimson eyes wide with fear. Then the four suddenly glowed blue and were thrown from their feet. Yugi turned to see Silent, with a similar wound to his, standing and holding her hand out. Her eyes were blazing with blue magic in a way Yugi had never seen before. Her mouth turned down in a growl with a literal azure fire burning in her eyes.

Yugi felt strength return to him seeing Silent Magician standing against these assailants. Yugi slowly worked himself to his feet, leaning heavily on the well. He then used his other hand to grab the hilt of his swords still slung over his back. The group of Silent monsters immediately went into an attack formation, they were more trained then either Yugi or Silent Magician, but those two were not backing down.

Then Silent Swordsman raised his hand. The group stopped and stood to attention. Silent Swordsman then quietly walked up to the two by the well, keeping his hands in the air and far from his oversized sword. Then, once he knew he had the two's attention; he slowly moved one hand to his sword hilt. Yugi jumped to stop him, but Silent Magician made him pause. She watched as the swordsman's blade began to glow in white light, then slashing words appeared in the air.

"I believe we have a misunderstanding here. Silent Magician, my old friend, and the great Pharaoh, we meant no harm. We could not see over the edge and believed you to be Gandora too."

After Yugi read those words, he didn't believe it for a second. There is no way they could have mistaken their tiny silhouettes for giant dragons. Silent Magician seemed less skeptical; in fact, she looked shocked. More letters then appeared.

"We are simply here to collect the Warrior army's property."


	15. Cherry Red and Grape Purple

The walk back to the game shop was quiet. Dark Magician still led the way, but Yami found himself moving much slower. He looked around every corner and kept an eye on his back the entire time. He could tell Dark Magician also kept an extra eye out. Even the emotionless duel spirit couldn't stop what he heard about the Dragon of Destruction from making him jumpy.

"What have I done?" Yami eventually asked. Dark Magician continued to lead, not acknowledging Yami's comment. This made the pharaoh slightly annoyed. If Yugi were here, he would have been chatting with Yami to keep his spirits up. Couldn't Dark Magician tell he was on edge? Couldn't the duel spirit even try? Yami then let out his pent-up breath. Dark Magician wasn't Yugi. It's also not eithers' job to help Yami wallow in self-pity. What was done is done. If Kaiba was as intelligent as Yami knew he was, the CEO would be able to connect the pieces. Junior could be in a lot of trouble if Seto was still set on cutting loose ends.

"If Junior's even the Dragon," Yami whispered. Dark Magician glance back briefly.

"It doesn't make sense. You didn't see Junior today. He ran away from any sign of confrontation. Even to the point he took one of my cards to give to some entitled mother." Yami whispered a little louder. This made Dark Magician turn entirely around in vague surprise.

"Yes, he actually did that," Yami said while crossing his arms. Dark Magician nodded and went back to leading. As they continued to walk, Yami found his thoughts continually on Junior's faults. How could that man, dragon or not, be the man Yugi loved so much? Enough that he ignored his fearful nature and his constant absence. If Yami counted up all the time in these last four years that Junior was actually home, he's only come back for a total of a week. Sure, Yami knew he called very often, but that didn't seem enough. While he may have to be away with his job and Yui had to stay in Domino for doctors, there should have been more time in Junior's schedule to be home in four years. That just led to another big question, if Junior was the dragon, why was he now working with the country's military?!

Yami's thoughts kept going in an unsolvable circle. This was quickly becoming as frustrating as traversing his mind room. Yami was so deep in his thoughts he didn't see someone turning a corner and ram right into him. Yami fell back as the bike skidded to a stop beside him. The rider then jumped off his bike.

"Watch it! I'm already late enough for my shift!" The rider yelled. He had a deep voice, a voice that Yami recognized a little too well. On instinct, Yami leaped to his feet and crossed his arms, his signature intimidation stance. Dark Magician followed by having his staff at the ready. In front of them was a large male with humongous eyebrows. The eyebrows of Ushio.

The two teens stood ready for the other to attack, then Ushio's eyes adjusted to the darkness and he realized who he just hit.

"Yugi! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it!" He gasped, his voice rising a few octaves. He immediately began backing up, his whole body trembling as he tried to mount his bike. This was what brought Yami and Dark Magician out of their fight mode. They both flinched as Ushio, in his fear, dropped his flashlight. The light flashed in both their eyes and gave Ushio time to get on his bike.

"Wait!" Yami started to say with his hand outstretched. Then the man two times his size screamed.

"Stay back!" Ushio yelped. He finally managed to get his feet on the pedals and started racing away. Leaving his flashlight behind.

"Wait! I only want to talk to you..." Yami tried again, but Ushio was already pedaling away at high speeds. Yami could only watch, the humid night wind blowing silently by him. Dark Magician nudged Yami's side. The pharaoh guessed that it was the spirit's way of asking if he wanted to pursue. Yami shook his head as his answer. They had enough on their plates tonight. The teen then picked up the flashlight and put it in his pocket. While there he felt to make sure he still had his deck, just in case someone else decided to jump out. Once sure that he still had everything, he continued to walk to the game shop.

…

The last leg of the journey seemed so much shorter than the rest of it. To Yami, he only took one step, and suddenly he was in front of the shop. The building had always been a happy place for him. Coming back to the yellow and green store meant an adventure was finally done, the world was saved, and that he and Yugi could finally relax. Now the silhouette of the shop seemed to twist and grow, becoming another monster Yami had to fight. Once again it was Dark Magician that took the lead. The mage led him to the front door, but Yami paused.

'Funny, hundreds of monsters and world-ending events. And it's my partner's father that makes me hesitate the most.' Yami thought in a bid to make himself smile. He then felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Dark Magician had put it there, a gentle smile on his face. A smile that was so familiar that it hurt, yet Yami had never seen Dark Magician smile like that before. Yami could only nod back to the spirit and walk into the dark house.

"Yugi?" A soft whisper came from the shadows.

"I'm back." Yami sighed. Everything was silent a moment, then Yami felt as someone took his hand and yanked him from the doorway. The door slammed shut right in Dark Magician's face.

Yami was pulled into the living room. The door to the rest of the house closed behind him. A light then flicked on. Junior was the one that pulled Yami in. The father was frantically looking over Yami with worried eyes. He then reached forward and took Yami's face in his hand. He began to look for any sign of a wound or cut, asking over and over again if Yami was ok. Yami eventually pushed him away and took a few steps back. Answering each repeated question with "I'm fine." The relief was evident on Junior's face, but it was quickly replaced with a stern frown, his left facial scar framing his red eyes.

"You have a lot of explaining to do young man." His voice was still soft but the edge it now had made the hair on the back of Yami's neck stand on end.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been out without telling you." Yami began to whisper.

"Without telling us?!" Junior whispered also, but that edge never went away. "You shouldn't have been out at this time to begin with! What happened to that caution you promised me you would have? Don't tell me you're suddenly blacking out and waking up in weird warehouses again."

'So Yugi told his dad about that. What else did Yugi say?' Yami thought. Yami had always tried to stay out of Yugi's conversations with his family out of respect, but now he wished he did eavesdrop a little. 'How can I ask about the Dragon of Destruction? What if Yugi knew all this already? What could Junior figure out if Yugi did already know and I started asking weird questions? What would this all lead to?'

As all these questions came flying through Yami's head, Junior was raddling off about a dozen more questions. Where had Yami been? What was he doing? Why even go out? Yami didn't answer and instead kept his eyes to the floor, arms still crossed in front of him. Eventually, Junior gave a big sigh and rested his head in his hand as he rubbed his temples.

"Yugi, Yugi, Yugi... First, you lie to your mom about being sick, then this." He said as he sat on a nearby couch.

"You know?" Yami asked.

"Of course I do. I was with you all day, and the only sign of something odd was you using your TV voice. You shouldn't have even tried to lie; I was specifically trained to read people."

Yami could only shift his weight to the other foot as his eyes refused to face Junior. "TV voice?" He asked.

"The voice you're doing now. That tough voice you put on for your confident dueling persona." Junior sighed as he slumped back on the couch. "Why are you even still doing that? You practicing to impress someone?" Just then Junior's eyes widened as he looked up to Yami. "Were you at Téa's house?"

Yami's own eyes widened as he immediately looked up and shook his head with as much force as he could. "Nononononono. Nothing like that." Yami practically begged.

"Look, champ, I understand you're almost out of high school now. I know there are certain…"

"Oh Gods, please stop." Yami really did beg this time. He then collapsed in a side chair with his head in his hand, also rubbing his temples. Thankfully Junior did stop, and Yami had a few seconds before the next round of questions.

"…Dad." Yami whispered. It was harder than he liked to admit saying that word.

"Yes?" Junior moved closer to Yami's chair and looked over him with those same worried eyes.

"Why was Kaiba asking about a Dragon of Destruction?" Yami asked in a low, quiet voice. If he cared at the moment, it would have been his best attempt at sounding like Yugi.

Junior nearly jumped in shock. His face immediately going pale. Yami looked up to see the man start shaking his head, whispering his own string of no. Yami felt a pit in his stomach grow as he saw Junior's face go from shock to anger, then back to fear. He then started pacing the room, his hands behind his back. The string of no replaced with a series of swears, most in foreign languages. Then his head snapped to the door.

"I have to leave," Junior said, all emotion in his voice gone. This made Yami stand and just about leap to block his exit.

"No! You can't leave again! You owe answers to Yugi- to me! You owe answers to me…" Yami's voice grew quieter with every word.

It was just the two, violet and crimson eyes locked in a silent house. Each genuinely fearful of what the other would do if they said more. It was Junior that was the first to move. He took a step back from the door and exhaled a long breath. He rubbed the back of his short cut hair and looked towards a framed picture of Yugi. This picture was of him on the news when it became official that he was the King of Games. There were many such pictures around the shop, Yui was good at framing Yugi's big successes.

"I really do leave often, don't I? Then I'm never around when it matters." Junior said. He then shook his head and looked to Yami with a sad smile. "I do owe answers to you… Here, we never got to enjoy those shakes earlier, did we? There's a good twenty-four-hour mart near here. They have excellent slushies. You want to get one?" Junior asked.

Yami paused, both his hands found themselves on the Millennium Puzzle's newly rough edges. The memory of Téa's words regarding Junior flashed through Yami's head. After a few seconds, he tentatively nodded.

"Good, come on I'll drive. Then we can talk."

The two quietly crept out, making sure not to turn on the headlights of the family car until they wouldn't flash inside the shop's windows. Dark Magician was still outside. He seemed to be waiting for the two and did a slight bow to them as they walked to the car. Yami was used to the gesture, but he was surprised when Dark Magician bowed to Junior too. Junior walked right through the spirit, but Yami was shocked nonetheless. Dark Magician only ever bowed to himself, Yugi, and Kaiba, he had never seen him do it to anyone else.

In the car the two drove in silence, Dark Magician floating along with the two. They were alone on the late-night road. Once again, Junior went way under the speed limit. What annoyed Yami earlier that day helped him relax this time. It was a calm before the incoming storm.

"I forget, can we now drive through Antla street?" Junior asked.

"Yes, though I have never seen it blocked up before," Yami answered.

"No, I mean is it still Hendrick's gang territory? Is it safe to drive through at this time?"

This made Yami sit up a little more. "I don't remember any gangs being there. In fact, I don't know of any gangs still being around other than school gangs."

"Hmm, that might have only been back in my day then," Junior said, then he fell quiet again. Yami would have left the silence, but he saw a potential answer in this next question.

"Were there a lot of gangs when you were growing up?"

"Not just a lot. This city had just about every sin you could think of. It even once held the record for most murders. I'm glad it was cleaned up by the time you were born. My mother always treasured this city so, even with its massive flaws. She would have loved to see her home city in the pristine condition it is now." Junior said, a bit of mist coming to his eyes.

"Is growing up here where you learned to fight?" Yami said, Dark Magician floating even closer to the car in interest.

Junior slammed on the breaks, nearly strangling Yami. Yami looked to him with gritted teeth, but that was lost when he saw Junior's wide eyes. He looked like a deer in his own headlights.

"Yugi…I'm not quite…ready to..." Junior started to say but petered out.

"I'll save it for the slushies then," Yami said in a quiet voice. He turned away, and Junior started driving again. It was more silence between the two as they found the neon lights of the gas station, parked, and got out of the car.

It was very humid that night, feeling and smelling like being hit in the face by a wet gym sock. The two quickly rushed into the store to get some air conditioning. Inside was brightly lit, every square inch filled with rows of colorful candies and snacks. There was no one there, being what hour of the night it was. Even the cashier seemed to be away from his post.

"I always loved this place when I was a kid. Of course, they've updated it, but it still has the same feeling. Seems old Mr. Nosaka is still too cheap to hire competent workers." Junior said as he gestured to the empty front register.

On it was a note that said, "If you must bother us knock on the side door. Signed the over-worked night employees. "

Junior then pointed at a closed-door down the hall. "If they didn't come out when they heard the sliding doors, they won't bother us while we talk."

Yami didn't even see the side door when they walked in, it was almost hidden behind the rows of candies.

"Wait, I thought we were taking these slushies home. We are talking here?" He asked, surprised that Junior would want such an open place to divulge his secrets.

Junior gave a low sigh and shrugged. "You know how lightly Grandpa can sleep. I didn't want him coming down. This is a kind of talk that shouldn't be interrupted."

Yami nodded, but he still didn't feel quite right about this.

In the back of the store was a few running slushie machines, they were older than any of the new ones Yami had seen on his travels, but they were filled with every color and flavor Yami could imagine.

"Pick whatever size and flavor you want," Junior said as he grabbed the biggest cup and started filling it with a red flavor. Yami found himself looking around the shop instead. He looked up at the one camera watching the store. Junior then noticed where Yami was staring and slightly smiled.

"Don't worry about that. If I know Mr. Nosaka, he wouldn't have spent the money to keep that camera running. It's only there for show. See how it doesn't have a red light on?" Junior once again pointed. As Yami looked closer at the wall-mounted camera, he saw that Junior was indeed right. They weren't being recorded. "Your late-night outing put us at the perfect time. No one will overhear us."

While Yami followed Junior's logic, he thought of another reason Yugi's father might have taken him here. This might have been one of his childhood safe places. Yugi used to have many to hide from bullies on the path home from school. Yami decided not to ask about his theory and instead picked his size. He then pulled the first lever he found, not wanting to let on that he didn't know how this machine worked. Thankfully a purple slush came out, and Yami was able to collect it just fine. As the two were getting their lids, Yami felt he had to be the first to talk this time.

"So… Kaiba."

"Yes… Kaiba." Junior said, his deep frown returning. This let Yami see more than just the one large scar on his face, but the many smaller ones that cut across his body. It was then Yami also saw bits of tattoos poking out from under Junior's long sleeve shirt. Yami glanced to Dark Magician and then spoke.

"I was gone tonight because I went to visit Seto Kaiba. Do you know about him?"

"Of course I know your biggest rival." Junior nearly snapped. "For your information, I am still not over how he forced you into those Death-T games and ripped dad's precious card. You know I always try to trust your judgment regarding friends, but he's someone I have a hard time believing changed." Yami was surprised to hear that much venom from Junior's voice. He pressed on nonetheless.

"He is having about the same issue regarding your…change," Yami said, doing his best to dance around the real words he wanted to say.

Junior immediately stiffened, that deer in the headlights look coming back. Then he sighed.

"Yugi, you know I would never do anything to hurt you or our family purposely. If that c… CEO has told you otherwise, you can't believe him." Junior began, panic clear in his voice. Yami stopped his incoming rant by putting up a hand.

"It doesn't matter what Kaiba told me. I want to hear from you and only you. Are you the Dragon of Destruction? The main leader of a private army called Checkmate and… someone that worked closely with Gozaburo."

"…Yes." Junior admitted in a dead voice.

It was like a frozen bullet had shot through Yami. He knew it was coming, but for it to be confirmed was still frightening. His whirlwind of emotions he had been trying to control was quickly becoming its own hurricane.

"Why?" Yami more stated than asked. Junior sighed and put down his slushie. He rested his elbows on the counter and put his head in his hand.

"That's a long story Yugi."

"We have all night. I want to know exactly why, how, and all of it. Even the parts I might already know. I want to hear them from your mouth." Yami said.

"Why and how huh? You really are Yui's kid." Junior sighed, a sad smile peeking out. "That's exactly how she worded the question when we had this conversation."

Junior slowly stood up, turned around and leaned, back first, on the counter. He then crossed his arms. Yami chose to ignore how much Junior looked just like himself at that moment.

"Ok, Why, how, and all of it..." He was quiet for a minute. Then he spoke.

"Then let's start with your earlier question. Yes, this city taught me to fight, but more importantly, it taught me how to survive. Unless you were respected, it was very much predator or prey. While my parents did their best to help keep me out of those situations, as a child, I had a hard time avoiding them." Junior then glanced over to Yami.

"You already know of my life long fight with my 'illness,' so I do not need to go into details there." Yami nodded, though he really didn't know what this "illness" was. Yugi never so much as hinted at it. There was no way to ask now so Yami kept his mouth shut and hoped he could figure it out.

Junior then continued. "This… illness seemed always to get me in trouble with the wrong crowd. I got beat and belittled often, by other children and even adults I happened to annoy or frighten. What the others didn't know was behind the crazy kid screaming about dragons following him, was the mind of an in-humanly fast learner." Junior then lightly felt the scar over his left eye. "I hope you understand that I'm not trying to make up excuses through any of this story. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, you know? I'm not trying to blame my parents, or my environment, or even my own brain. I am just trying to answer your questions the best way I know how. No matter how warped it might turn out." Junior then looked down at his hand, he made a fist with it, then relaxed it. He did this in a continual cycle as he thought about his next words.

"I found I loved having power over others. To the point of enjoying hurting them, physically when I could and mentally when I couldn't. The rush of defeating a foe, of proving you were better than them. The high of winning and continually winning. I was addicted to it."

Yami unconsciously grasped the Millennium Puzzle's chain. He knew those feelings. He knew them too well, back when Ushio and others went too far before Yugi and his friends pulled him into the light.

"I think it's a Muto family curse. We love to win, to the point of obsession if we aren't careful. Your Grandpa did this through his gambling and archeology, but he controlled it, and when he was at a point in his life where he couldn't chase that high anymore, he found ways to replace it. He tried to put me on the right path through games." Junior then looked to Yami, though he didn't make eye contact. He only looked at Yami's deck pouch. "And I am forever grateful he didn't give up when his teachings fell on my deaf ears." Junior smiled. Yami's face remained as blank as Dark Magician's.

Junior then took a sip of his slushie and continued.

"Back then winning in games wasn't enough for me. I wanted so much more. So, I started playing with people like they were my game pieces. I made best friends break up, ruined both child and adult reputations, set teachers, and even gangs on each other. I wanted them to hurt as they hurt me. The perfect motivation for a villain wasn't it? This, of course, worried your grandparents. They shipped me off to a school for troubled kids, hoping that a change of scenery and strictness would be good for me. They even paid big bucks for it and for a while it worked. I soon learned to turn my need to dominate into leadership skills and my intelligence to academic studies. Even my illness seemed to go away, leaving my mind free to interact with others that were actually real. I might have become a fine politician." Junior shrugged.

"What happened?" Yami had to ask. The pit in his stomach ever-growing.

"I met Gozaburo Kaiba."

Junior went silent for many minutes after that. Yami didn't have the heart to make him speak during that time. The pain on his face was clearly evident; just these memories alone were causing pure agony. The man wouldn't even look at him. It was then Dark Magician floated closer, probably feeling Yami's growing tropical storm of emotions. Then Yami saw something odd. As Junior turned away from Yami, he immediately turned again and looked to the ground, like he had been trying to avoid Dark Magician's gaze.

"I… won't go into details there. I know I promised everything but…" Junior then looked up to the ceiling. "The first time I killed was in that school, all for that dammed man." He then started up another swearing storm in other languages. His slushie cup being bent and finally crushed. When it exploded on them, Junior immediately stopped and started apologizing. He quickly grabbed a pile of napkins and began wiping at Yami's shirt, still apologizing under his breath. Yami didn't think all those sorrys were for his stained shirt though.

"I was a fool Yugi." Junior finally said in English. He stood back and looked at his cherry dyed hands. "He coaxed out the worst parts of me. At the time he was the only person I saw as an equal. He had everything I wanted. Gozaburo was just as intelligent and strong, yet he had money, connections, and most of all, his brain didn't hate him. We became what I thought was friends, but to him, we were partners. Maybe even owner and attack dog…" Junior shook his head and started cleaning his hands.

"Gozaburo helped me get where I thought I wanted to go. He helped pay for training, hand to hand combat classes, even trips to exotic locations. When my father started to realized what kind of person I was becoming, Gozaburo helped pay for me to move away. Now I look back and see how stupid I was. He was only ever grooming me to be his future empire's general, rewarding the monstrous traits he wanted and isolating me from people that would bring out my better parts."

Then, for the first time in the conversation, Junior turned to Yami and looked him straight in the eye. "And I let him Yugi. I knew what he was doing, and at the time, I didn't care. I wanted to be a monster. I thought I was freeing myself from the chains my parents and society put on me. I was more than just the poor crazy kid that couldn't tell reality from fantasy. I was smart, and I was fit. I was better than all of them. Why not use my gifted intellect to take advantage of others? Why not get rid of those that get in my and my friend's way? Why not? It was a horrible cycle that kept feeding into itself. At the time I was working for other people as Gozaburo hadn't gotten his company yet, but he still made sure I stayed in that horrible mind space.

"This situation was all made worse by my mother dying suddenly. I hadn't been home for years at that point, and I never got to say goodbye. Somehow, I construed in my mind that it was my father's fault for it all. We had already been fighting a lot, but that was the nail in the coffin. I disconnected entirely from my family."

Yami found himself taking a step back from the intensity of Junior's words. His heart had already dropped into his stomach, and it was falling ever lower. His hand were clasped around the Millennium Puzzle's chain, and he didn't feel like he could let go.

"But you're not like that now." Yami found himself saying.

Junior slowly nodded. "I take full responsibility for becoming the monster I was back then. I may have been led into that state of mind, but I was the one willingly following. What helped me begin to see the depths I had fallen actually led to that title you asked about. The title of 'Gandora, Dragon of Destruction.' What changed was I met your mother."

Yami immediately perked up when he heard Yui mentioned. From how he saw dates go down with his friends, he didn't see how someone in Junior's situation would keep a relationship going. "How did that happen?" Yami asked in disbelief. This actually got Junior to chuckle

"I know, I still can't believe it to this day either. What your mom doesn't explain when she is telling this story, is that she was quite the party girl back in the day. She thought she was going to die at any point thanks to her, at the time, unknown illness. She lived every day with that mentality." His gaze fell far off as he thought of happier times. Then he shook his head. "Gozaburo originally encouraged my relationship with her. Thinking that when she did die or broke up with me, I would have more rage he could manipulate and control. But then she had the audacity to keep living."

This was the first time Yami smiled during this story. Junior noticed and smiled back. "I still don't know what she saw in me, but I soon found everything I convinced myself that people didn't have, in her. She was kind, funny, and wouldn't take lip from anyone. I soon felt I wanted to be better for her. I wanted to actually be the gentle, quiet persona I put on for her. What the actual lie was, was that quiet persona was the true me. All this rage and bravado was the mask I put on for Gozaburo and my 'goals.' When I realized this self told lie, it scared me half to death. I at first tried to break it off with her by showing my true colors. Her going away would make me stop second-guessing every one of my life choices, right? But being the stubborn survivor she was, she wouldn't let me run away. She somehow had seen the real me under all my… flaws to put it mildly. Soon, I had a light in my self-dug hole. A beam to show how far down I really was."

Yami felt another similarity, another emotion he related a little too much too. What would he have done if he didn't have Yugi to balance him out? What if his friends had never been there to show him friendship was more powerful than the shadows from his prison?

"You know of Grandpa's cave-in incident? With Arthur Hawkins?" Junior asked Yami.

"Yes, when they first found proof of Duel Monsters in ancient times?"

"Exactly. Well, after that was the first time in a decade my father and I put our stubbornness aside and talked. I even flew Yui over to see him. That was when I first heard the name Gandora. It's funny because I hadn't played or seen Duel Monsters in years. But that name seemed right to me at the time. I didn't want Solomon Jr., the boyfriend of the wonderful and beautiful Yui, to be the same person that was about to be the new leader of Checkmate. So, when Gozaburo finally hired me and I collected my army, I made sure no one knew of Solomon Jr. There was only Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction. I even made sure Gozaburo only referred to me by that name, even in his records or outside the army. I made new passports and IDs for Dragon. He was a real person as far as the world could tell. That was my compromise, and I swore I was happy."

"But it didn't stay like that." Yami guessed. Junior nodded, his eyes once again falling to the ground.

"Solomon Jr. married Yui. Dragon went on to become a company backed monster, all in the name of the great KaibaCorp." Junior then glance to Yami once again, the pain still clear on his face. "What did Kaiba tell you about Dragon?"

"That he was a... killer. Near the end of his career, he had others do it for him, but he still killed. Then he died." Yami said, not meeting Junior's eyes.

"To my eternal shame, that is true." Yami heard the crack in Junior's voice; he was crying. Yami found he didn't have the nerve to look. His own emotions were flying in every direction, and even he didn't know what to feel about all this information. It was all too much, so Yami ended up feeling nothing. He was hollow. He was simply collecting the information for Yugi. Yami turned his back to Junior.

"I have spent every day since I got out of that army trying to fix what I have done. It's why I even jumped right back into the military. I'm going around the world using my skills to dismantle evil done by others and fixing situations the earth itself has caused. I'm not a soldier and don't go into battle. I'm a... well you know that already." Junior then shook his head "The government knows everything I've done for KaibaCorp, and instead of having me executed, they decided to hide my crimes because of my rare skills. They decided I could do more restoration with them, than the damage I had done under Gozaburo. To this day, I still pray that they are right."

Yami then looked to Dark Magician to see his thoughts. The spirit could only shrug. "You skipped a lot. How did you get from Dragon to now?" Yami asked. His voice was just as hollow as he felt.

"Hm? You should know this part Yugi. I've only told it to you a million times, though I suppose not in this context." Junior said. Yami still didn't look at him, but he could feel Junior's eyes on him. "I suppose I owe it to you to tell it again, without my usual embellishments. After years balancing two lives, a miracle happened to the small Muto family. Yui suddenly had the healthiest year of her life. She even was beating out my dad in health and energy and most important to her; she was pregnant."

Yami's eyes lit up when he realized where this was going.

"Yugi," Yami whispered.

"Yep champ, somehow you and Yui beat the odds and made me one of the happiest people on the planet," Junior said as he started to reach out to ruffle Yami's hair. It was an action he had done to Yugi many times, but Yami stepped back. After all he heard, even with the happy memory of Yugi being born, he didn't want Junior to touch him. Junior's smile disappeared, but he let Yami stay back.

"After you, everything changed. I mean, that's how babies work. I don't know a single parent that was able to keep their old life after a child. But for me, suddenly having two lives wasn't cutting it. I started seeing life again for what it was really worth. I could no longer ignore what I was doing to the world around me. I was making it a much worst place, all for what? A man that now cared so little for me, he didn't even know I was married.

"What's more… that illness of mine came back with a vengeance. I was becoming a danger to myself and my family. I stopped being able to keep my Dragon persona out of the home. I hope you have forgotten all the times I yelled at you and your mother for the smallest things when you were young." Junior said as his voice cracked again. Yami still refused to look at him and this only caused another shiver to roll up his spine.

"The linchpin was when I led an attack on a remote village on newly bought KaibaCorp land. Our job was to get the villagers off the property as quickly and efficiently as possible. At this point, I was trying to tone down KaibaCorp's evil, doing things like kidnapping instead of killing, for what little it's worth. But I was still making things so much worse. I soon found I couldn't do little half measures like that. I needed to be either all in Gozaburo's plans or not in them at all.

"The final push came when I saw an older village boy crying about how he had lost his brother, clutching a robot toy like it could somehow bring his brother back. Then I went home, and you were playing with the same toy. You were using it to destroy the 'monsters in your way' as your little toddler self-put it. The thing was, you were quoting me. That's how I described my job to you. That was it. That was the thing that finally got it through my thick skull that **I needed out.** "

Junior took one last big inhale and said, almost like he was trying to get it out all in one breath. "So, I went up to Gozaburo and told him what I wanted. Of course, he wanted to stop me, even kill me, but I had access to many things he couldn't let get destroyed, like a code to his son Noah's brain." Yami immediately turned in shock, even facing Junior at that comment. Junior only slightly smiled.

"Yeah, that's another long story that if I live to see two more months, I'll happily tell you," Junior said. Yami turned back away.

'So Junior didn't know I had already met Noah.' Yami thought.

"Gozaburo also had things in his control that would hurt me just as much if they were destroyed. When it was clear he couldn't control me anymore, he knew there was nothing he could do but let me quietly walk away. If he stopped me, it would have become a personal war between us two. It would have been M.A.D. So as long as I kept quiet, the government helping me do that, and if Gozaburo never came after me, we were fine to pretend the other never existed."

Junior fell silent. He seemed not even to breathe as he waited for Yami to say something. Yami kept his back to him, occasionally sucking on his grape slushie.

"Well?" Junior asked in a low voice. Yami still didn't say anything. Junior at first tried to reach out to Yami but stopped himself. He then let out a large breath and looked away too.

"Well, here is where all those horrible choices got me. I needed to move often to try and fix what I've done, something Yui begged to follow along in. I could never do that to her though. She needs stability and the specialty doctors that come with that. So, my dad gets my family while I'm away-"

"There's more to it than that," Yami said flatly.

"What?" Junior asked, his voice weak.

"You could have been home more often," Yami said, with his back still turned to Junior.

Junior was stunned into silence at his son's uncharacteristic words. "Yugi… You actually want me home, knowing all that?"

"It doesn't matter what I want now. I'm just looking back and seeing it was very possible for you to be home more these last few years. You know what I think?" Yami said. Junior held his breath. "I think you are a coward Dragon. Yes, you did horrible things, and yes, you're trying to fix them, but you are scared of hurting your family like you hurt everyone else. So, you stayed away from them as much as you could. In doing so, you have hurt them more by your cowardice! You know how many birthdays and holidays I had to sit by and watch as he tried to feign happiness on what should be a joyous occasion. All because some deserter backed out last minute from coming home, or only sent a gift and a note?!" Yami growled.

Both Junior and Dark Magician stepped back in shock. Junior, his hands coming up to his chest like he wanted to roll into a ball and Dark Magician merely standing in awe.

"Yugi? Who's the 'he' you spoke of... is that Grandpa? Are…You ok?" Junior nearly whispered.

"He's not, Dragon of Destruction! He's not, and you wouldn't know because you weren't there!" Yami turned on his heels and faced Junior with an expression like he was about to duel a villain. Téa's words on his anger towards Junior were once again running through Yami's mind. It was then he knew, he had never let his anger regarding Yugi being missing effect his thoughts on Junior, he had always been furious at Junior's absence. And now he was releasing it all on what should have been Yugi's guardian and best friend. The man that might have to replace him when it was time for him to leave.

Junior once again took a step back, about to run away even. But then, for the first time Yami had seen, he stood his ground.

"Yugi. Do you know how many times I wanted to be home?! To see you grow up? But if I haven't made this clear enough. I'm. Not. Mentally. Well! I've killed people and was ok with it. I've plotted hundreds of people's demises with what could be one of the evilest businessmen around and thought it was fine. Ever since I was a child and now every time I come home, I see duel monsters everywhere! I am not safe to be around! I understand any other anger towards me, but don't hold that one against me! I stayed away because I was going to hurt you or your mom. Yugi-!"

"I'm not Yugi! Why haven't you noticed that fact yet?!"

Both Mutos then paused. The realization of what the other said slowly working past their sleep-deprived anger and reaching their brains. Yami's face drained of color as he immediately shut his mouth. Junior lost all his rage and was replaced with worry.

"You see duel monsters, was that your 'illness?'"

"What do you mean you're are not Yugi?!"

There was a small clink that seemingly echoed through the store, a coin falling on the ground. Both Yami and Junior immediately jumped to the ready and faced the direction of the sound. Across the store, stood two men. The door to the employee room was open and there stood Seto's second game master Ryuichi Fuwa, the unluckiest man alive; and Tetsu Ushio, Yami's first victim. Both wearing store uniforms and both with ghostly pale faces.


	16. Silent Pain

**A/N: I am in the process of editing some of the earlier chapters, so they make better sense. If you read something and are like, "Hey, I swore this character said something different earlier?" you're probably right. Hopefully, the story is more cohesive now. Don't worry. You don't have to go back and reread the entire story, I only made small changes that shouldn't impact your understanding.**

**Thank you so much for reading!**

"What?!" Yugi gawked. "Gandora is no one's property!" Then he felt as the pain from his giant gash became much worse. He tried to stay standing, but soon he stumbled to his knees.

Gandora freaked out more in her web prison as Silent Magician ran to his side. The entire time Yugi kept glaring at Silent Swordsman. Silent Swordsman then looked back to his troop and tilted his head to Yugi. Another Silent warrior with a sword and shield ran out and kneeled by Yugi. She started to reach out with both her hands when Yugi pulled back, flinching at the pain he caused himself by that action. Silent Magician then placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder and shook her head, her eyes still wide. The two looked back to the Silent warrior as she once again reached out, hovering her hands just a few inches from Yugi's wound. A light, pastel glow came to her hands. Yugi's body immediately felt lighter.

"We meant no offense, great Pharaoh. Please let Silent Paladin heal you of my mistake." Silent Swordsman wrote again. Yugi didn't stop glaring. Silent Swordsman then soundlessly sighed and rubbed his forehead. "How much do you know of these Dragons of Destructions?"

Yugi said nothing, even as Silent Magician shook his shoulder. Yugi then glanced to his silent friend, unsure of how she fits into all this.

"Well then." Silent Swordsman wrote. The healer then stopped her healing and yanked Yugi's face so he looked at her.

"Our leader asked you a question, Pharaoh!" Came the floating green words. Yugi once again didn't speak and instead pulled away from her, even though he wasn't fully healed. He then tried to get to his feet again. The whole Silent squad leveled their various weapons in his direction. Yugi didn't flinch, though he did stumble as he slowly raised himself. The entire time Silent Magician held on to his arm like it was her lifeline.

"Expecting you to talk to us is a big leap of faith after we attacked you. Here, as a sign of peace." Silent Swordsman then unsheathed his oversized sword. It was twice as big as the swordsman's body and reflected the sun's light perfectly. He then let go of it and let it clank against the rocky ground. After the clanging sound reverberated around the clearing, the other Silent creatures also dropped their weapons. Yugi looked around in surprise. His eyes then narrowed when he noticed the duel monsters holding the ends to Gandora's prison didn't drop their whips.

"Free Gandora and we'll talk," Yugi said in a low voice.

Silent Swordsman only shook his head. "You truly do not know anything about these dragons, do you?" He then turned to Silent Magician. She still clung to Yugi. "You understand we only want the best, right Azure?"

"Azure?" Yugi whispered, looking down at Silent Magician. She then shook her head and clung to him harder.

"Don't call old name. I Silent Magician of the Domain of the Beasts." Silent's words were jagged and barely put together. They only shakily remained in the air for a few seconds before falling apart.

"Do not waste magic you do not have Azure. It will do no good for anyone." Silent Swordsman wrote back in his clean white words. This only made Silent Magician push herself closer to Yugi.

Silent Swordsman then nodded his head. "Very well, a history lesson is in order then." He wrote. He then sat down on a nearby rock, and the other Silent creatures immediately followed his example, all but the ones holding together Gandora's prison.

"That's kind of you," Yugi said, eyes glancing in every direction to try and find a way for them to escape. Kuriboh was a few feet away from them. The puffball was utterly knocked out, either by the earlier slashing attack or just tiredness. He and Silent Magician were in front of the wishing well with Yugi's sword still strapped to his back. Yugi knew he wasn't in well enough shape to pull it out before these well-trained creatures got to him first. Silent Magician had barely any magic left, and Gandora couldn't fight her way out of the red webs. Yugi didn't know how those webs worked. They seemed too fragile to keep Gandora back. Yet, the great dragon could barely move in them. They truly were stuck.

'We need help." Yugi thought, for a desperate moment hoping he might hear something from the puzzle.

Nothing.

"These dragons are menaces to themselves and others." Silent Swordsman then wrote, his words appearing so close to Yugi that he had no choice but to read them. "Do you know how these dragons must destroy? They literally cannot live unless they hurt others."

"I know that's not true." Yugi shot back. Silent Swordsman lifted an eyebrow. "Gandora here may need to destroy somethings, but the entire time I've been with her, she has gone out of her way to break things that wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Oh really? She has not wrecked anything accidentally?" Silent Swordsman wrote. Yugi fell quiet as he remembered her breath blowing through the riddle area, all to Gandora's surprise.

"As I thought." Silent Swordsman then wrote, a smug smile on his face. He then stood up and walked over to the still fighting Gandora.

"Stay away from me!" Gandora roared. Yugi noticed that she kept opening her mouth like she was trying to breathe out a blast. Nothing ever came out of her maw.

Silent Swordsman then reached down and separated a part of the webbing, it not affecting him. Suddenly a crimson blast did come shooting out of the prison, straight at Yugi and Silent Magician. Yugi felt as the heat from the dragon's attack started to burn him before Silent Paladin lifted her shield and stopped the blast, even completely dissipating the energy. Once the shield was down Yugi looked up to see Gandora's horrified face.

"No… I didn't mean…" She whispered. Silent Swordsman then closed up the webbing and looked to the stunned Yugi and Silent Magician.

"I assume you saw her as a friend. Companion even. I am sure she does too, but as you can see these dragons on their own are uncontrolled wrecking crews. She would have killed you then and there if Silent Paladin hadn't been there."

Yugi grimaced as Silent Paladin smirked, spinning her shield around just to show off.

"These dragons became so bad that many years ago they almost went extinct. They kept destroying each other and their egg clutches. It was only when but a few were left that some kind warriors saved them. These warriors helped keep them from destroying each other and even helped the next generation grow in a safer environment. All they asked in return for their investment is that these dragons help them with their war." Silent Swordsman turned to Yugi with his arms open wide. "We Silent soldiers are here to return these dragons to their homes before any more damage is done."

"The Warrior Army has sent us to death in droves!" Gandora screamed. "They don't care about us, just that we take other dragons with us as we do our death detonation! For me, as the only brood mother, I was expected to keep laying eggs, never seeing my children grow up!" Gandora cried. The ones holding her prison made a snapping motion with their whips and her prison shrunk to an uncomfortably small size. "I don't care how weak this makes us seem. We Gandora have been controlled all our lives. We have no choice in anything we do!"

"Just the words of a grieving mother." Silent Swordsman wrote as the others went about keeping Gandora quiet. "I am told she never got over her last hatchlings unfortunate death. Gandora death is not quite as common as she would have you believe in the war between dragons and warriors."

"A war that they clearly have no choice in!" Yugi snapped. "This kindness you speak of the warriors giving seems more like enslavement to me!"

Silent Swordsman shrugged. "If the word makes you feel better, then say it all you like. But it does not change how better off these dragons are under the Warrior Army's control. You must know about the damage this mob of Gandora are doing down there." Silent Swordsman said as he pointed down the mountain. Yugi felt the pain in his chest grow as he saw the ever-increasing black scar on the perfect land below.

Yugi gulped. "They may destroy, but I think they can learn to control their needs. Especially in an environment where they're not living bombs for others!" Yugi, no matter how much he disliked the other Gandora for what they did to his dragon friend, couldn't let them be captured.

Then Yugi noticed a small bit of movement from the side of his eyes. There a brown ball began to stir. Yugi glanced around and saw that none of the other Silent monsters seemed to see Kuriboh wake up. Yugi then closed his eyes briefly and thought. 'Kuriboh, you have to help Gandora.' Back when Yugi wasn't so sure if duel spirits were real, Kuriboh seemed to hear the thoughts he had said to Yami. He hoped Kuriboh still had that mind-reading ability. Kuriboh then moved out of his side view, and Yugi could only hope.

'We need help'

Silent Swordsman looked over Yugi and then sighed. "I had hoped the prophesized Pharaoh would be more reasonable. I do not like to make unnecessary enemies." He then glanced to Silent Magician.

"Azure, please. Help us convince the Pharaoh. You know we wouldn't do something like this unless we thought it was the best for the monster world." He wrote. Silent hid her gaze behind Yugi's arm. Silent Swordsman's face became furious for a moment. Then he hid his outrage with a smile. He ran to her side and pulled her away from Yugi, Silent Paladin holding Yugi back from stopping him. Silent Swordsman then held Silent Magician's hands together, pulling them in front of her, much like Yugi saw lovers do in romantic movies. Silent Swordsman made sure to keep eye contact with Silent Magician as these words appeared between the two.

"Please, you know me, Azure. You were the first to see something wrong with the way the Silent archetype ran things, and I am sorry I did not defend you back then. You were absolutely right, the Legendary Knights coming back and immediately kicking us out of our lofty positions showed us our faults. We were too proud, too cruel to be the protectors we promised we would be. Now we are trying to regain our honor. We may be little more than paid mercenaries now, but we can be more! We need you by our side again. The great Silent Magician of the Domain of the Beasts does not need to be exiled anymore. Please, I need you."

Yugi watched as Silent Magician's expression went from fearful, to surprise, to eyes full of hope. She looked at Silent Swordsman with a face that told Yugi this was her childhood friend she seemed to hold in such high regard. Yugi felt as his physical wounds combined with the ever sinking feeling he had in his stomach. What chance did the destroying Gandora have compared to being with friends and family again? Yugi stood as straight as he could but knew there was little he could do. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying, even if Silent did side with the others.

"She's free!" A shout came from Gandora's prison. Everyone jumped as they saw a massive clawed hand reach out of the webbing and grab a little Silent creature. Yugi then saw Kuriboh come bounding towards him. Red webbing stuck in their claws.

As everyone scrambled for their weapons, Yugi got out of Silent Paladin's grip and ran to Kuriboh. Yugi felt a hard push against his back. He turned just in time to see a large energy bash coming from Silent Paladin's shield. Kuriboh then jumped into Yugi's arms, and a slight rainbow glow surrounded the two. Kuriboh was still too drained from earlier that day, but Yugi didn't take the full force of the bash and was instead pushed. He skidded across the ground briefly as he held tightly to Kuriboh.

Yugi looked up to see Gandora, wholly free from the broken webbing, clutching two Silent monsters in her hands as she used her new wounds to power punches and tail attacks. It was like ants fighting a dog, every one of Gandora's attacks sent a few Silents flying. The problem was that Gandora was still very tired, while the Silent warriors were healthy.

Yugi then felt as a foot pushed down on his head, forcing his face into the rock. He looked up to see Silent Swordsman standing over him. The warrior seemed taller, almost older.

"Call her off!" The jagged white words appeared right in front of Yugi's face. All eloquence gone from his writing.

Yugi growled and used a move he once saw his dad do. He used his legs to push off the ground, but instead of trying to push against Silent Swordsman, Yugi spun around, using Silent Swordsman as an axis. He side-swiped Silent Swordsman and then leaped to his feet, Kuriboh still clutched in one hand. Yugi, with his other free hand, pulled out his sword. When Silent Swordsman regained his senses and jumped to his own feet, Yugi saw how the monster that was once shorter than him was now about his same height.

Silent Swordsman looked at Yugi's sloppy fighting stance and surprised face. The monster soundlessly chuckled. "Silent Swordsman LV 5." He wrote as he gestured to his new stature.

Silent Swordsman then lunged at Yugi. His new higher power plus his training let him immediately disarmed Yugi. He effortlessly hit Yugi's sword hand with the blunt of his greatsword, causing Yugi to drop the blade. He was about to take another, more deadly swipe, when he was suddenly forced away from Yugi and into the air. Yugi turned in surprise to see Silent Magician standing by the well, her eyes blazing with blue magic once again. She held out a new white scepter and had it pointed directly at Silent Swordsman's direction. She had also grown in age too, being taller than even Yugi. If this had been the place or time, Yugi would have found her beautiful.

"LV 8!" The blue words wrote. She then threw the swordsman painfully onto the rocky ground. Once Silent Magician was sure Silent Swordsman was out of the picture, she ran to Yugi's side and pulled on his free hand. They went running towards Gandora and hopefully, freedom.

"Do we have a plan?!" Yugi yelled, but none could answer him. Just then more Silent energy attacks came flying at the two. The older Silent Magician did her best to shield them with her magic, but with her now running on emergency magic, she could only protect herself. Yugi shielded Kuriboh the best he could and felt the pain as a few attacks did land on him. Then he saw as Gandora leaped in front of the three. She threw the creatures she had in her hand at the mob and blocked more attacks as the group ran for the edge of the mountain top.

What made this harder for the four was that the Silent soldiers spoke no commands to each other. Instead, they would flash split-second images too fast for any of the non-Silents to read. Then the squad would follow orders to the tee. They were a well-oiled machine. Once the chaos of Gandora's freedom was calmed down, they began routing the group. Keeping them on the mountain and blocking their paths.

A sudden yank from behind pulled Yugi out of Silent Magician's hand and sent him flying into the wishing well again. What scared Yugi the most, was the fact he felt no pain as he landed and it wasn't from Kuriboh's ability.

"NO!" Gandora roared. Yugi tried to shake the new fuzz from his eyes and ears, but it didn't disappear. He then looked up to see Silent Magician and Gandora surrounded. Though the two fought with all they had against the tinnier foe, it wasn't enough. Silent Magician was the first to fall as she didn't have Gandora's healing abilities. She collapsed to the ground, regaining her small body. Gandora saw her fall and quickly picked up her and Kuriboh's body. The dragon never let them go, even as she kept fighting.

Yugi tried to get to his feet but found they didn't respond to him. From the side of his ever-shrinking vision, Yugi saw Silent Swordsman storm up to him, a snarl clear on his face.

'Help.' Yugi thought one last time. Then he felt another yank, this time from the Millennium Puzzle

Suddenly the Silent creatures began to panic. A great white light flashed above the mountain top; it was as bright as a lightning strike. It might have even been lightning in Yugi's blurred vision.

"We have to leave!" Gandora was suddenly in front of Yugi and scooped him up. Yugi didn't have the coherency to question how she got away.

"I will not let them take you away from me again!" Gandora shouted, or Yugi thought she shouted. Everything was becoming distant-sounding like he was walking farther and farther into a deep cave.

Everything was a smoky blob of color in Yugi's vision. He could only barely hear and see things when he felt a great crash. It was a painful shock to his back as Gandora fell to the ground. Yugi held on closer to her, his last weak attempt at stopping her from being taken. Then he realized that she hadn't fallen to the ground by an attack. Instead, she had been dodging something large and white flying past her.

Then Yugi heard the distant fighting of the Silent soldiers again. This white thing was attacking them. Then Yugi felt the familiar warmth, the steaming heat from a dragon's blast. A Burst Stream of Destruction.

"Blue- blue." Gandora gawked, though Yugi only heard it as a whisper.

"Blue-Eyes!" A young Silent Monster shouted. Soon followed by the cries of his squad.

"Dragon!"

"Drago!"

"Dra!"

"Da-"

…

"Dad!" Yugi frowned as he crossed his little arms. He and his dad were playing a travel game on the train ride to the airport, but his Dad had not paid attention the entire game.

"What!" Dad nearly jumped right out of his seat, his eyes darting from the train window to the other passengers.

"It's your turn," Yugi said, pointing down at the travel checkers. They each only had a few pieces left. If Yugi lost another piece, he probably would be beaten.

"Oh, right. Sorry there, champ. Dad's just been a little distracted with the move." He said as he started moving his plastic piece.

As Yugi waited for him to make his move he suddenly felt very weird. Like he had already lived through this memory. He then looked around the part of the train they were in. Other than Dad, no one else had a face. They were all blurry outlines. Yugi might have found it weird, but the dream-like logic of everything took over his hurt body and exhausted brain. He was right back to the mindset of his younger self.

"You've been saying that since forever! We aren't moving stuff now, so focus on the game." Yugi pouted. Dad quietly chuckled and reached out to ruffle Yugi's hair. Yugi let him rub it for a few moments but then pulled away while sticking out his tongue.

"Don't be like that, Yugi."

"Too many people have been touching my hair!" Yugi whined as he reached up to grab his newly colored hair tips. What was black at the start of the school year had turned pink by the end of it.

"You should be proud of your Muto hair. Few people can say they have naturally three different colors in their hair." Dad said as he felt his own unkempt mess of tri-colored hair. "I'll sure miss mine. This new job is going to force me to shave it down. Stay proud, champ."

Yugi frowned, he wasn't convinced. He hated his new pink hair. All the other elementary kids wanted to pull on it. "Will mine turn an awesome red like yours?" Yugi asked.

"Maybe," Dad said, his eyes back to glancing around the train, not even focusing on his move or his son. Yugi sighed and slumped back in his chair, blowing his long bangs out of his eyes.

Once Dad finished his turn, Yugi returned his attention to the checkers. Even without focusing, Dad made a really good move. Yugi leaned forward as he tried to think. He then saw a piece that Dad seemed to forget. It even allowed him to jump twice! Yugi eagerly reached out and captured his dad's pieces with an excited grin. He thought he finally had beaten his dad. Then Yugi realized this move left his piece in the perfect position for Dad to jump him three times. Yugi puffed out his cheeks in frustration and then fell back in his seat. Rules were rules. Once he took his hand off his piece, he was done. Unlike the other kids in his class, Yugi actually wanted to follow the rules, even if that meant he would lose.

Dad then looked back down at the board and started reaching out for the piece that would end the game. Yugi braced for impact, but then Dad took his hand away, he moved a different piece that put him in the perfect path for Yugi to take all his pieces next round.

"Hey, I saw that! You're letting me win!" Yugi whined. Not Dad too. He was the only other person Yugi trusted not just to let him win.

"Well, winning isn't everything. Hey, do you think Mom's been gone too long?" Dad asked, his eyes getting frantic. Yugi recognized that look and pulled away as far as his seat would allow. "Yeah, she's been gone for far too long. I'll be back." Dad then stood up and stomped towards the food cart Mom went too. Yugi waited quietly for a few moments before relaxing. He hated it when Dad became like that. It had been getting worse too, ever since Dad announced they were moving and he was joining the American government.

"What's so great about America anyway?" Yugi whispered to himself as he kicked the air. He liked Japan. He didn't see why they had to leave everything and move in with his smelly Grandpa. Even if he did run a cool game shop.

"You're going to America?!" Yugi turned to see a blurry girl about his age in one of the nearby seats.

"Yeah." Yugi shrugged. The two talked for a bit, or… Yugi thought they did. What he actually remembered was when the girl screamed.

"Oh, it that hair real?!" Yugi knew the hair pull was coming before he even felt the painful tug.

"Hey! Stop!" Yugi screeched as the girl kept pulling. She then saw his blonde bangs and couldn't believe it was all the same hair. She, of course, had to pull on that too, making Yugi cry. Soon he was yanked from the girl's grip by Dad's strong arms. Dad held the crying Yugi close to his chest. Mom then came running up from behind, just as frantic of an expression on her face as Dad's.

"You ok Yugi?!" Mom asked. Yugi tried to explain about the hair-pulling, but it all came out in snot bubbles and tears.

"I'll walk him around," Dad said.

"Are you sure?" Mom asked, her eyebrows raised high. Dad gave a nervous chuckle and nodded.

"I'm sure, I promise I'm a lot calmer now," Dad said. After a few moments, Mom gave a slow and unsure nod.

As Dad walked by the little girl, he gave her such a scary scowl she ended up crying too. That didn't make Yugi feel any better.

Once they were out of that part of the train, Yugi was finally able to start calming down as Dad kept patting his back and whispering assuring words. He carried Yugi for a while, even after he stopped sniveling. Dad then moved onto jokes and riddles. Soon Yugi found himself giggling. This was what Yugi liked; it had been a while since his dad talked with him like this.

"And then she sprayed the cough medicine, and it stopped the coffin."

"Haha!" Yugi laughed, then he felt his stomach growl. "Can we go back to Mom now, I want food!"

Dad's face then became slightly embarrassed as he kept walking away from the seats where Mom was. "Don't worry. We are heading towards the food area right now."

"But didn't Mom leave to get food?" Yugi asked.

"Err, yes, she did. On the way through she stopped to talk with an acquaintance. I kind of interrupted her…. Anyway, it's our quest now to get the food!"

"A quest!" Yugi cheered.

Yugi turned around to see as Dad opened the way to the food area, then he stopped dead in his tracks. In front of them was a tiny fat dragon. It was yellow and only barely came up to Dad's knees. Yugi immediately grinned, it was so cute! It looked just like the card Grandpa had shown him when he came over for Christmas. The creature in front of them was Poki Draco, only in real life! Yugi looked excitedly to Dad, thinking this was some surprise. Then he saw his dad's horrified face. Dad had frozen stiff in the doorway, all his attention on the tiny monster. Poki Draco then looked up and chirped at the two.

"No, no, no." Dad began to say under his breath. He then pushed Yugi's head into his chest as he raced forward, running right through the dragon. The monster looked unfazed by being run through, though it did look a little confused.

Yugi tried to look forward again, but Dad just stuffed his face back into his shirt, more forcefully this time. Yugi could feel his dad's fear, and it was making him more stressed.

Suddenly Dad threw himself against a corner table, hiding in the shadows. Yugi began to ask what was up when Dad held his hand over Yugi's mouth. Yugi found he couldn't breathe from how tight his hold was. Yugi started fighting with all the strength his little body had, which wasn't much. Then Yugi saw two men walk by, the two not even seeing them in the dark corner they were in. The men were wearing black suits, kind of like Dad's old uniform. Yugi felt as his dad held his breath. Then one of the men turned around and looked at the ground. He then saw the two in the corner and started walking towards them.

"Hey, you!" The man yelled.

Dad took his hand from Yugi's mouth, allowing him to breathe. Yugi would have taken in a deep gulp if he didn't see where Dad moved his hand to. He flipped open a knife he had in his pocket and hide it behind his back. Yugi felt as every one of his dad's arm muscles tensed.

"Hey, you! Is this your wallet?" The man asked as he held out a leather pouch.

"No." Dad quickly said, not letting go of the knife.

"Oh, well. I'll keep looking then. Have a good day." The man then tipped his hat. Now that he was in a different light, Yugi thought his uniform was less black and more dark blue, not like Dad's old uniform at all. Dad seemed to realize this too as he put away the knife and the two exited the cart.

Dad then took a deep breath, his first in a while. Yugi looked to him with wide eyes. He then reached out and patted his cheek, lightly tracing his facial scar.

"What is it, Yugi?" Dad asked, faking a smile. Yugi hated fake smiles.

"Can we get food now?"

"Oh, of course! Food, food, food." Dad started looking around the set tables. Then there it was again, that little Poki Draco. It was right behind the two, using its tiny wings to hover to the top of the table. It then pointed at a delicious-looking dish and smiled. Yugi took it as a suggestion to try it. Yugi started to reach out for it when Dad suddenly grabbed another plate and ran for it. Yugi was confused at first but then guessed that maybe Dad didn't like that specific meal.

When the two got back to their seats Mom was waiting. Dad immediately passed Yugi to his mom's lap and collapsed beside her.

"Are you ok?!" Mom whispered to the best of her ability.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Dad then saw what food he grabbed; he took only a plate of butter. While Yugi thought it was odd that they were going to eat butter, Dad seemed even more surprised.

"Don't lie to me, Solomon." Mom said in a low voice. A voice Yugi didn't like.

"I got only a stick of butter…" Dad said disbelief.

"How did you get it by the way? You left your wallet with me." Mom asked. Dad looked down at the wallet, then the butter plate.

"I stole a stick of butter…" He was frozen for a few more moments. Then he put his head in his hands, letting the butter clatter to the floor. Mom immediately shifted Yugi to the seat next to her and moved to comfort Dad. Yugi didn't know what to do. He liked to help when other kids were sad, but he didn't know what to do when adults were. Did parents even get sad? Yugi looked at the two whispering in utter confusion. Some words were clear. Then some words became blurry like everyone else Yugi couldn't remember.

"I just keep seeing them Yui. Everywhere I look I see those hallucinations or his thugs."

"It's just the stress of moving…The doctors say there is no correlation with the hallucinations and your other mental problems…. In America, there is no KaibaCorp, and we'll be safe…"

This was a strange moment for Yugi as it was that comment that made him lose his child-like mind. Suddenly he was a seventeen-year-old again, sitting next to his parents on that train. He had all his emotions and memories from the last eleven years of his life. Yugi looked down at the butter on the floor. He slowly reached down and picked it up. He then tapped his father's shoulder. Junior took a few seconds, then pulled his hands away. Under them were eyes of pure rage. Then he lunged at Yugi.

Yugi suddenly found himself in a barely lit subway station, the butter in his hand somehow turning in to a knife.

They were in America now; everything had that blurry haze to it, even his father's face. Yugi didn't remember this night as he slept through it as a kid, but he remembered the stories and police reports about it. They had just gotten off the plane from Japan and had been picked up by Grandpa. Back then, there was a subway stop near Grandpa's shop. The family was about to take the empty subway when a homeless man with a knife came at Junior. He had been away from the family trying to call someone from a payphone. The robber must have thought he could take the short man alone. But here there was no robber. Instead, there was a grown Yugi in that position, unable to open his mouth.

"Gozaburo sent you, didn't he?!" Junior shouted as he attacked. Yugi couldn't even keep up with his father's movements, it all seemed like one blur as he was forced to the ground, knife somehow in Junior's hand and at his neck. There was no pain, only fear as his dad's eyes became clear. They had slit-pupils and a red glow as he stood over him. A vicious smile cracked across his face.

"What did he tell you?!" Junior demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Yugi pleaded in a voice not his own. It honestly sounded like a combination of all his old bullies' voices. "I didn't mean nothing! Please!"

"Solomon!"

"Junior!" In the side of Yugi's eye, he saw as the rest of the Muto family came running around the corner, even seeing his little child self still in a stroller.

"This man is here to kill me!" Junior snarled. Yugi watched in horror as his father grew in size, taking on more dragon-like qualities. His in-humanly wide smile and red eyes never disappearing. Then he sliced the knife through Yugi's throat.

There was no pain, no feeling. Yugi only felt as he lost control of his body as he tried to crawl away. He looked back to see his grandfather and mother hiding behind a large Gandora. The dragon was laughing at Yugi's slow death. That wild look that is reserved for only the most insane killers on the dragon's face, then everything went black.

What Yugi did remember from that night was waking up in the police station, the policemen calling his father a killer. One even said he should have never come back to Domino City. That was impossible, though. Dads don't kill. Sure, they defeated bad guys that got in their way, but they don't kill. Dad's only answer to all the police's grilling?

"It was what I was trained to do."

Yugi to this day didn't know how they got out of that mess. There had been a station camera recording the whole thing. He guessed maybe the government stepped in? Perhaps the police didn't want to get involved with Junior again? Either way, the family finally moved in with Grandpa a week after that. They tried to keep a low profile, but rumors spread fast. Soon the entire neighborhood knew that at one point the returning Muto worked for KaibaCorp's private army.

Then the dream changed again, Yugi was once again a young boy. All his future memories gone. He had been woken up by crashing downstairs in the middle of the night.

"You're not real!"

Yugi slipped out of bed and peeked outside his door. Grandpa had to go pick something up that night and wasn't in the shared room he and Yugi had back then. His parent's room was open though. Yugi quietly snuck to the door to see Mom was in bed but not Dad. He then heard more crashing downstairs.

"Stop torturing me like this! You're not real!"

"I am only here to protect you!" A female voice came this time. A voice Yugi also knew didn't exist.

Yugi honestly thought about going back to bed and pretending he didn't hear anything. Mom had told him to give his dad space after the subway station incident. During the month in-between Dad seemed to lose all color and personality. He only did the bare minimum and was completely robotic while doing it.

Yugi heard a crash to rival all the others and raced down the stairs. He jumped the last couple steps to see Dad curled in a corner, his head in his hands as he sobbed. Across from him was the spirit of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. She was slowly backing away from him, her giant claws passing magically through the broken plates at her feet.

The Blue-Eyes had always been in the shop. Grandpa had shown Yugi her card and Yugi had seen her around the house sometimes. Of course, he didn't acknowledge her. He had been taught very quickly that imaginary friends weren't real and shouldn't be mentioned, ever. The imaginary Blue-Eyes had kept her distance in return, until this moment.

"Please go away," Dad said in such a low, defeated voice to the not real dragon, it left Yugi with no choice but to run to his side.

"Dad!" Yugi cried as he threw himself into his dad's arms. Dad looked shocked to see Yugi but gladly accepted the hug. He held Yugi so tightly that the boy almost couldn't breathe.

"I'm so sorry you had to see this, I'm so sorry Yugi," Dad repeated over and over under his breath.

Yugi couldn't help but start crying too. He just wanted his dad back, the strong, smart one that wouldn't let him win unless he earned it, all the while teaching him new tactics. The one that laughed and made Yugi laugh in return. The one that wasn't always looking over his shoulders and jumping at every sound. The dad before the move.

"What happened?" Yugi whispered. Dad once again held him tightly, kissing the top of his head.

"I-" He stopped when his voice cracked, and he took a few moments to try recomposing himself. "I messed up." He managed to get out. Yugi then looked up to him, his little hand finding itself tracing his father's facial scar. Dad leaned into the touch and held his hand close.

"I have made so many mistakes Yugi, and they're all finally piling up. I'm going to leave soon to help fix them… to fix me."

"But I don't want you to go." Yugi sobbed. "Mom's already gone so often to the hospital, or sometimes she won't respond to me when she's in bed. I don't want to be alone!" This only made Dad shake his head and hold Yugi tighter.

"You won't, you'll have Grandpa. Even still, I'll be back. I promise, but I'll be better next time you see me. A healthier, better dad. Then we can play all the games you want."

"Can we have milkshakes too?"

"Of course." Dad then took Yugi's face in his hands, their similar colored gazes meeting. "But you have to promise me something. I got stuck in my sins because I just couldn't leave good enough alone. So please promise me you won't take things too far, ok? I know how much you love to win in games, and that's great, but do not, and I repeat do not, turn it into a fight. Fighting for such silly reasons has only led to more heartache. So please, keep out of violence, for me?"

"Yes! Of course!"

The two then jumped as they heard the Blue-Eyes start to walk away. Yugi hid his face in his father's shirt as Dad gave the dragon a death glare.

"I can see I am not needed here. Not for a long time at least." Yugi swore the dragon talked, but imaginary friends don't speak. It seemed like his Dad absolutely didn't hear it either as he only kept glaring at the dragon. "I will always be here to protect you, even when you do not want me. I'll keep the other spirits away if that is what you want." Then she was gone, it wasn't like she was there to begin with though.

"Let's get you to bed," Dad said as he slowly got up. Yugi was so exhausted at that point he needed to be carried upstairs. As he was about to drift off into the darkness, he asked one more time,

"You promise to come home?"

"I promise."

Then everything went black.

The next morning Dad was gone. He cleaned up the glass shards and was off without a goodbye. He left a week earlier than his orders. Dad regularly called when he could and seemed to be keeping his promise to come back often.

Then a war broke out.

Then KaibaCorp moved their headquarters to America, specifically Domino city.

Then an important mission came up.

Then the weather was bad.

Then…then…then.

…

"Then I have a right to see him!" A roar shook Yugi awake. He immediately shot up but was magically pushed back down. He was in a bed and covered in bandages. Above him was a high stone ceiling and the smiling face of Mystic Elf. He was back in Dark Magician Girl's castle.

"Wha-? Wait! Where is Gandora, Kuriboh, and Silent Magician?!" Yugi yelped.

"Do not talk. You have been knocked out for a long time."

Yugi's eyes immediately widened at the clear female voice. Now he knew why he was being healed in such a big room; the visitor beside his bed was none other than a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Her voice was familiar, like the one he heard in his dream. Yugi could only stare at the magnificent beast by his bedside. Her scales seemed to glow in the unmoving sun's light. Her eyes were just as vibrant as Yugi remembered them.

"Are you… My Grandpa's Blue-Eyes?" Yugi asked, his voice weak.

"Who else would I be?" She snickered. "When a Blue-Eyes swears loyalty to a strong human, they keep their promise."


	17. You're a Winner

**A/N: I am incredibly sorry this chapter is late guys. I wish I could have warned you once I realized this was going to be late, but the most I could think to do was put an update on my profile. So, check that in the future if a chapter is not on time.**

**I have some bad news, because of a series of increasingly frustrating events, I lost three entire chapters that I had already written. This is why this chapter is late and why I'll have to go back to the every other week schedule. I know, I just promised the once a week, but this data loss has put me back in both schoolwork and fanfiction. I really do want to keep a consistent schedule, but that's just not in the cards for me right now. Thank you for understanding.**

**With me losing entire chapters, I also lost a lot of my motivation to rewrite this or any other chapter. That's when I got this weird idea. I'm sure you guys noticed how I switch perspectives between Yami and Yugi each chapter. I sometimes jump to other characters, but for the most part, I keep to Yami's or Yugi's version of events. To keep me motivated, I ended up writing this chapter from an entirely different perspective. While it got me writing and I think it's even better than the old chapter, it didn't quite get to the point in the story I wanted to get to. So, here's the plan. This will be a special chapter, on Friday the 16th I will release the next chapter, and it will be a full Yami chapter. Then on the 30th, there will be another Yugi chapter, and the cycle will continue as usual. Sorry if this is confusing.**

**Thank you guys so much for continuing to read. Knowing you guys were waiting and were excited for more of this story was the thought keeping me going as I started rewriting. So again, Thank you! I can't quite convey how much gratitude I have for you all.**

Tetsu Trudge always saw himself as a hero. He naturally wanted to protect others, his larger size helping in that endeavor. Growing up he had the last name of Ushio and was the one to protect the other neighborhood kids from bullies, lost kittens from wild street dogs, and the one to defend his mother when his birth father got too angry. As time went on that heroic image never left him. As far as he was aware, he was still the great protector. Even as he committed his darkest acts.

Tetsu didn't know when he started to fall, maybe he had always been in a downward spiral, but as he got older gratitude wasn't enough for him. He wanted more monetary appreciation. He had many excuses back then for why he took money from the people he saved, the most common being that his newly divorced mother needed it. Yet, if he was honest with himself, he knew he was only ever being greedy and cruel. To this day he didn't know how, yet in his younger head, it all made sense. His heroics deserved rewards, even if he had to beat them out of the people he "saved."

It was a small boy with wild hair and Tetsu falling from a roof into a river of monsters that finally woke him up. He was no longer the protector he wanted to be; in fact, he needed the protection now. Every water source, no matter how small, had horrors swimming in them. What was even more confusing was that every pile of leaves became a stack of cash in his eyes. These monsters and tricks only he could see, and they never went away. His hallucinations were so bad that for a full year he had to live in a mental hospital. His lone mother not being able to take care of his constant break downs at home. All the time, that glowing eye haunted his waking nightmares.

At first, Tetsu was angry, angry at that "thing" for forcing him into such a state. How dare he reject Tetsu's kind act of protecting him from bullies and instead torment him so. Sure, Tetsu might have beat him up a bit, but that didn't deserve all this punishment? Right?! Tetsu found he couldn't even utter Yugi's name concerning that fateful night. Because of this, he could never explain what exactly happened. As far as his doctors and mother were concerned, he fell into the river and had a psychotic breakdown.

While in that mental hospital, Tetsu saw many others like him. They all couldn't say what exactly was wrong with them, but Tetsu could figure it out. They had met Yugi too. All had varying hallucinations and mental problems. One guy swore his entire body was made of clocks. Another saw the ghosts of his dead patients coming after him. One even thought he was continually on fire. It was a busy time for the hospital. As more came in, Tetsu found himself more and more disgusted. While the doctors and nurses couldn't find a connection between all these different criminals breaking down, Tetsu knew. He was bad enough to be lumped in for punishment with these actual criminals. These people had tricked, stolen, and killed; they were real monsters. Yet, Tetsu was mentally tortured just as hard as them. This was the first time his anger towards Yugi, turned to anger at himself.

What was he if, even in one twisted boy's mind, he was equal to real criminals? Tetsu thought a lot about that in his little padded room.

Tetsu's first solid memory without hallucinations came when the results from Duelist Kingdom was broadcasted. Yugi was the King of Games. Just seeing the boy's face plastered across the hospital's TV was enough to make Tetsu physically sick, yet, his hallucinations started disappearing after that day.

As the months passed, Tetsu found his symptoms lessening. He was able to talk more with his psychologist, interact with others more freely, even start exercising again. His mental purgatory vanished. With that came real growth. He had the most development, physically, mentally, and emotionally that he had in years. He was able to find the root of his many problems, most not even being related to Yugi, and face them. He got help, real help for the first time in his entire life. Help that he would have never sought out before his great fall from that roof. It was then he finally realized,

He was no hero.

This was Tetsu's most significant turning point. He realized he was the monster he saw in his nightmares. There was no magic, no shadows controlling him; it was all his very sick brain's way of interpreting the world. A world where he thought he was the hero no matter what. What probably happened that faithful night was that Yugi somehow pushed him off the roof in self-defense, and his broken brain had made up the rest to explain why he lost.

Once Tetsu was passed that mental hurdle, he sprinted his way to mental wellness. He finally left that live-in hospital for his mother's wedding. He came out as Tetsu Trudge, a healthy and better hero. He was going to become the protector he used to lie to himself he was. The first step was to get a job and start working towards police academy, all while still going to counseling.

While on his journey Tetsu met new people. Be it through work, training, or his new counseling sessions. They were more friends to him then his school cronies had ever been. Which was good, because he needed them. Almost as soon as he stopped living in the mental hospital, Duel Monsters exploded in popularity thanks to Battle City. Everyone was playing the game, even non-gamers. It was becoming a worldwide phenomenon — all with its King of Games, Yugi Muto. The King's winnings were broadcasted all the time. A waiting panic attack on almost every corner more like it. It had been pure torture for the recovering Tetsu. But this time he had support.

While Tetsu didn't blame Yugi and knew there was no magic involved, he still couldn't get rid of his irrational fear of the small boy. However, to be a hero, Tetsu couldn't let a thing like that hold him back. He went out of his way to walk by those game shops that showed off Yugi's many duels. This, of course, led him to go into said shops occasionally, and, obviously, looking at the game his biggest fear played. That was as far as Tetsu thought he would ever go, but Duel Monsters have such a powerful draw to them. There's a reason why the game existed since the beginning of history and will live to the end of it.

…

This had to be the weirdest day of Tetsu's life. First, he meets Yugi, twice! Then he ends up being late for work, which he never is! He just had to hope this wouldn't be the one night Mr. Nosaka decided to check on them.

Tetsu just about Tokyo-drifted into the bike stand and locked up his bike. As he fought with the uncooperative bike, he dreamed of the day he'd have a motorcycle and wouldn't have to ride on the rusted thing anymore.

"About time!" Ryuichi Fuwa groaned as Tetsu rushed in, throwing on his uniform as he ran.

"Sorry, I'm late. My last duel seemed to go on forever! You should have seen my opponent. He was trying to outlast me by playing defensive spells and simply destroying my monsters instead of inflicting-"

"Yeah, yeah. Tell your nerdy duel stuff to someone who cares." Ryuichi said as he rolled his eyes. As Tetsu clocked in, he couldn't help but smile. Ryuichi always did this none caring act. Their counselor called it his defense mechanism. He had grown this thanks to years living in the lap of luxury, then losing it all. If he didn't care about Tetsu's dueling then why did he spend hours helping Tetsu build and tweak his deck on slow nights?

Once Tetsu finished clocking in, he checked the worker's side room to see why Ryuichi wasn't handling the cash register like he was paid to. Ryuichi was hunched over the small table in the room, scratching through a stack of scratch cards. Tetsu groaned and was about to head to the front of the mart when Ryuichi raised one of his hands, keeping the other on the card.

"Don't worry about it. No one's shoppin' right now. I left a note upfront so even if someone does want to buy somethin', dey have to bother us last instead of first."

"But what if someone tries to steal?"

Ryuichi shrugged. "Who cares? So, someone takes a few candy bars. It's not like dey can get into dat brick of a cash register Mr. Nosaka has bolted down out dere."

"Well, I care." Tetsu turned to walk out of the worker's room (more like a worker's closet). "And you should really stop with those scratch cards. You never get anything from them."

"Don't give me dat! I just need one win, one win! And I know I'll have my luck back." Ryuichi then went about using his quarter to rub more vigorously.

Growing up, Tetsu never watched the game show Ryuichi was once the star of, but many of his friends did. Apparently, a new contestant every week would put their luck up against Ryuichi's in various games. The loser would be electrocuted. Ryuichi never lost. Ryuichi said it was because he was naturally the luckiest man alive. It was all going swimmingly for him, then, he came along. Ryuichi could never say who he was, but most of the others in the counseling session could guess. One of Yugi's friends came on the show instead of Yugi and lost horribly. Every show after that Ryuichi was the one to lose.

It was pretty clear to Tetsu that what actually happened was that the show rigged every game. They never told Ryuichi it was fixed and as he grew up, he believed he was that lucky. The network or someone then caught the show. The show had to play honestly after that, but playing honestly got them in debt and canceled. Yugi's friend being on the show was only the start of the downfall. However, in Ryuichi's eyes, after Yugi came along, he became the unluckiest man alive.

"Come on man, you know you never had any supernatural luck to begin with. It was all rigged. What you should be mad at is that game show for not telling you the truth as you grew up. You always had the same chance of winning as the rest of us." Tetsu tried. Tetsu noticed Ryuichi wasn't paying any attention to him. He was instead focused on a scratch card. His eyes grew wide as he slowly lifted the card.

"I did it! A fidy-dolla' bill right dere!" He said as he tossed the scratch card to Tetsu. The large teen had to fumble for a bit, but eventually, he caught it and read Ryuichi's winnings. Sure enough, he had just won fifty dollars.

"That's great Ryuichi! How many scratch cards did you buy again?" Tetsu said with a sad smile. He then gestured to beside Ryuichi's chair, where a pile of hundreds of failed scratch cards lay.

"Dat doesn't matter. What does matter is dat dis might be the beginnin' of my winnin' streak again! See I'll prove it." Ryuichi immediately grabbed for a new card and began frenziedly scratching. Tetsu could only sigh as he watched his co-worker scratch out another loss.

"See? It's not magic. It's chance." Tetsu said as he patted Ryuichi's shoulder. Tetsu then handed him back his winning card and started cleaning up his mess. Ryuichi remained frozen for a minute, his eyes staring unblinkingly at his winning card.

Tetsu heard the sliding doors out front open. He started heading for the front area when Ryuichi let his head fall on the desk and slammed his fists.

"It's not fair!" He cried. While Ryuichi could be quite the drama queen, Tetsu could tell this was different. Tetsu looked from the door to the front, then back to his co-worker. What would a good protector do at this time?

Tetsu pulled up a chair and sat next to Ryuichi as he ranted into the table.

"It's not fair, it's not fair. I had everythin'! I had the money, the girls, the fame. Even the great Seto Kaiba thought highly of me! Now, look at me! Nothin' more dan a slave worker dat no one remembers."

Tetsu slowly patted his back, deciding this was not the time to point out that their job was far from slave labor. He had to keep reminding himself that Ryuichi grew up in a different environment than most people.

"Just because you had one show doesn't mean you can't have another. This one should not be based off luck though." Tetsu tried.

"Shut up! You wouldn't understand! I had it all, and it was all taken away by… by… by some kid!" Even the brave Ryuichi couldn't say Yugi's name. Tetsu decided to be glad of that because he already had his fill of Yugi for the day.

"I think I'm one of the few people that could understand."

"Yeah? Den name my show! Go ahead. If you are so wise den name the show I used to star!" Ryuichi snapped as he sat up and stared daggers into Tetsu.

"Uh…" Tetsu stammered. His mind drew a blank, but he did want to remember. He could even recall the show's announcer with his balding comb-over. Or was that the host for that other game show?

When Tetsu could think of nothing, he gave Ryuichi an embarrassed smile. That did not help the situation. Ryuichi let out another moan and let his head plop back on the table, his long hair spreading everywhere. Tetsu could only keep awkwardly patting his co-worker's back.

"Aw, it's not going to matter much anyway." Ryuichi eventually sighed after a minute or so of more self-pity.

"Really?" Tetsu perked up, hoping Ryuichi suddenly found some positivity.

"Yeah, When the Hendrick brothers come to collect the money I don't have, I won't have to worry about a lot of things anymore," Ryuichi said in a dry voice.

Tetsu jumped out of his chair in shock. "You what!? Don't tell me you actually took them up on their offer of poker?! You knew those guys were dangerous and always cheated!"

The Hendrick brothers, the last remains of old Domino city. The city with gangs and violence around every corner. The town that would beat you to death for daring to look at someone wrong. The city that would kill to get debts paid.

Ryuichi only sighed. "Cheatin' or not, back in the day I could win anythin'. I was hopin' goin' up against high stake cheaters would… I don't know… spark somethin'."

"Well, how much do you owe them?" Tetsu said, quickly sitting back down and focusing on what they could do now.

"Much more dan dis fidy." Ryuichi said as he lazily brought up the scratch card.

"Well…then… Maybe I could duel them? That could bring down the price a bit." Tetsu suggested. This only made Ryuichi laugh an empty, defeated laugh.

"Dey don't care about duelin'."

"They don't care about dueling?!" Tetsu stuttered. It was like being told someone didn't care if gravity affected them. Dueling was everything! Gun and knife fights had already been replaced by dueling in this world. Those cards just had a, for lack of a better word in Tetsu's vocabulary, magic about them. Whenever you dueled, it was for everything. The act of dueling was becoming as binding as a contract. Even much older adults were taking on dueling as a way to settle differences.

"They don't accept dueling?!"

"Thanks, I just needed to hear dat yelled in my ear one more time." Ryuichi rolled his eyes as he rubbed his ear.

"How are you so calm about this? If you don't pay them, you could be- You could be-" Tetsu kept trying to finish his sentence but shouting from the front of the shop cut him off.

"What's dat?" Ryuichi asked. Tetsu's eyes widened as he listened closely to the voices. "Don't dey know I'm about to die in here?" Ryuichi growled as he got up and started stomping towards the door.

"Wait Ryuichi! I don't think you want to go out there-"

"… I am not safe to be around! I understand any other anger towards me, but don't hold that one against me! I stayed away because I was going to hurt you or your mom. Yugi-!"

"I'm not Yugi! Why haven't you noticed that fact yet?!"

The two fighting by the slushie machines caused both Ryuichi and Tetsu to freeze completely. It was like their internal organs decided they had enough of their bodies and left. Nothing seemed to work, even their own thoughts. In front of them was the cause of their worst nightmares and a man that looked like him. They each had that heart-stopping aura, that creeping dread of a stalking shadow. Just looking at the two brought a barrage of memories neither boy wanted to remember. Memories that Tetsu had been trying to move past for the last few years.

Ryuichi dropped the quarter he had in his hand, the sound alerting the two monsters to their presence. As soon as Yugi met Tetsu's eyes for the third time that day, Tetsu wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and roll back to the mental hospital. Yet, he couldn't move. Those violet eyes held him fast.

"Sorry to bother you!" Ryuichi suddenly shouted, his voice raising a few uncomfortable octaves. This was what woke up Tetsu as both bolted for the worker's closet and slammed the door shut. Or they tried to slam the door shut. There was a sudden whistling and a ting right as they were slamming the door. The door wouldn't close anymore, though both Tetsu and Ryuichi put their whole strength into pulling it. Tetsu, in his panic, looked up to see a large wrench wedged between the door and the wall. This wrench was from a repair kit below the slushie machines.

"Could you come back out?" Both Ryuichi and Tetsu stiffened at that voice. It wasn't Yugi's. It was soft even. Yet it still had that spine-tingling quality. He might as well have had a glowing eye on his forehead for how frightening that short man became. "We just need to talk to you two." That voice came again. At this point Tetsu was seriously considering running for the back entrance, Ryuichi was even a few steps further than him.

"Ushio, Fuwa. Come out… please." Yugi's voice was the next to follow. Both Tetsu and Ryuichi froze mid-stride. Finally, the two could only sigh.

They were dead.

They let the door swing open, the wrench falling to the ground, and headed towards the two. Tetsu picked up the wrench as they passed, not out of self-defense, but out of some misguided need to do his job and keep the store clean. The two then stood in front of the two monsters. Ryuichi with his hands defeatedly in his pocket, and Tetsu standing stalk straight, like he was about to be recognized by the Police Chief.

"I apologize for tossing the wrench like that. I panicked." The taller of the two monsters said. Tetsu then realized the man was holding his hand out for the wrench. Tetsu immediately gave it back to the man, not even caring about what he was going to do with it. The man then slipped it back under the slushie machines. Tetsu chose not to think about how this man knew where the repair kit was, let alone how fast he had to be to grab the wrench and throw it before they closed the door.

"Did I hit either of you?" he asked before standing up. If Tetsu didn't know better, it almost sounded like genuine worry in his voice.

"Nope! We're fine!" Tetsu shouted, nearly ending that with "sir." Ryuichi grimaced at his co-worker.

"That's good." The man said in a lower voice. He then looked to Yugi. Yugi's own eyes were wide as he glanced from where the repair box was, to the door to the worker's closet. "You know these boys?" the man asked.

Yugi then blinked in surprise and looked back to the man. "Yes, they were my… classmates at one time or another." Yugi then shrugged and put his own hands in his pockets. The man kept looking from Tetsu and Ryuichi, then to Yugi. Like he was expecting something. When Yugi said nothing he asked,

"Are you going to introduce them to me? We want to be polite here." The man asked.

"Oh right! Polite..." Yugi trailed off. "That there is Tetsu Ushio, he was an older classman-"

"I'm Tetsu Trudge now!" Tetsu yelped.

"Come again?" Yugi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Trudge, I'm Trudge now. My mom remarried." He mumbled the last bit, feeling like an idiot for even speaking.

"Right, Tetsu Trudge." Yugi then tried to smile, but it was clear even to the terrified Tetsu that he was faking. "And over here is Ryuichi Fuwa. He was only in my school for a few days. He was also a star of a game show for a while. The one where you either won money or were electrocuted?" Yugi said, his eye briefly glancing to Ryuichi, he didn't even try to smile at him.

"Oh right! That one." The other man said as he snapped his finger. "That must have been an interesting job, always being one bad guess away from a shock?"

Ryuichi didn't respond for a few moments, not realizing he was even spoken too until Tetsu cleared his throat. "Hmm? Oh, ah, yes it was… interestin'…I miss the show, often." He said with a pointed glare Yugi's way. If Yugi noticed he didn't react.

"And this is... my father." Yugi continued as he gestured to the man beside him.

"Thank you." Mr. Muto then smiled at Tetsu and Ryuichi. He put his hands behind his back as he looked at the two. Tetsu found his smile to be more convincing then Yugi's, but that was because it was simply practiced more. It was still just as hollow. "As I said, I only wanted to talk to you two. I just want to know how much you heard from our little conversation."

"Nothing!" Tetsu blurted. Mr. Muto raised an eyebrow and frowned. Despite Tetsu being massively taller than both Mutos, under their gazes, he felt like nothing more than a mite.

"I know that's not true. We were practically yelling at the end. It be hard for you not to overhear and I'm not blaming you for that. I just need to know how much you heard."

Both Tetsu and Ryuichi glanced at each other, how much had they heard? What had been yelled by the two was covered in their overwhelming fear of being faced with two Mutos. Tetsu barely remembered the two whispering something else to each other after yelling, but what they said Tetsu didn't make out.

"Really, we heard nothin'!" Ryuichi tried. Mr. Muto frown turned into almost a glare as he crossed his arms.

"I know when you lie." He said. The two boys had no problem believing him completely.

"Right! Ah… I heard something about not being safe to be around? I think?" Tetsu tried.

"Yeah, what he said. We were so busy in the worker's room dat we didn't hear anythin' beforehand."

Mr. Muto's eyes glanced over the two. Tetsu could tell he was studying every one of their movements. Then his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I don't believe you."

Both boys took a tentative step back towards the front counter. The Mutos took another step forward. Yugi too crossed his arms and glared at the two. His father then continued. "You wouldn't be this nervous if you only heard 'that' part of the conversation. You heard much more. Enough for you two to be shaking like leaves in our mere presence."

It was then Yugi's eyes widened, and he glanced at his father from the side of his eye.

"Junior, they might be telling the truth. There are some other reasons they would be scared right now, other than hearing us talk." Yugi said. For the first time in his entire life, Tetsu was glad Yugi was there.

"Yeah! We heard nothing else we swear!" Tetsu said, nodding emphatically at Yugi.

"Absolutely, we were too terrified of your son to register anything else," Ryuichi added. The confusion that crossed Mr. Muto's face and the cringe from Yugi made both boys take another step back, both ready to run at a moment's notice.

"What?" Mr. Muto chuckled after quickly collecting himself. "Terrified of Yugi? This Yugi?" He said as he looked back at his blank-faced son. "Did he humiliate you two in a duel or something?"

Tetsu and Ryuichi didn't know how to answer that, so they glanced nervously to Yugi. Yugi's eyes stared down each person in the room; then after thinking for an uncomfortable amount of time, he sighed.

"Here we go." He said under his breath. After he took a deep breath, he then said to the group. "I'm not Yugi. You did not mishear me earlier, Junior. I am simply a spirit inhabiting Yugi's body." He said as he gestured to the weird golden necklace he had on. "I am saying this for everyone's sake." He then pointedly glanced at Tetsu and Ryuichi.

Tetsu found his mental functions freezing up again. 'A spirit? But… there are no spirits. There is no magic! There's a rational explanation for everything in this world. There has to be…' Tetsu was about to voice his thoughts when Mr. Muto beat him to it.

"What are you talking about Yugi-?" Mr. Muto began to say, worry returning to his face.

"Please, I am not Yugi, stop calling me as such. Yugi's gone!" Not Yugi then had to take another breath to get control of his raising voice. Once he reopened his eyes, all anger had left his face. "Now, let me speak. I will explain what I can here, then when we get back to the house," Not Yugi looked up to Mr. Muto with a tired sigh. "I will explain everything else."

The room was silent, dead silent. Not even Mr. Muto seemed to know what to say. The man's face was a mixture of fear, worry, and incredulousness. Not Yugi nodded to him and turned to the two store workers.

"I am an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh whose spirit was locked away in this item called the Millennium Puzzle. When Yugi rebuilt it four years ago, he awoke me. The problem was that I had spent thousands of years, being… I can only describe it as being something in a sea of nothing. It wasn't good for my mental health if you get what I'm saying." Not Yugi kept his hands on the golden pyramid as he looked down at its center eye. "When I first awoke, I was not a kind spirit."

Tetsu couldn't help but visibly shiver. He wanted to run there and then, all while covering his ears. He had spent so long convincing himself that everything was normal, that it was all explainable. These few words were tearing down the protective walls Tetsu had built, and it was becoming painful. Yet, then why were these insane ramblings making sense to him? Why did it seem to answer so many questions, all without saying a single rational thing?

"I woke up with only one thought, protect Yugi Muto. I still don't have anything else of my own. I have no memories, no ambitions, no life outside of Yugi. The only thing I have is that it was my job to protect him." Not Yugi then looked up, glancing at Mr. Muto. "I love Yugi more than anything. He was the one to pull me out of the dark state I awoke in and the first to befriend me. He is my everything figuratively and literally. I am Yugi's 'TV persona.' I take over when he needs strength or gaming skills he doesn't think he has." Not Yugi then turned to the two, making sure to keep eye contact. His mouth turned down into almost a growl.

"I am the one you met on the roof of the school, and the one Seto Kaiba wanted you to bring out. I believe we don't have to go into more details there. I know what I did, and you know what you did. You weren't the only ones, either." Not Yugi said to Tetsu and Ryuichi, respectively. The entire time Mr. Muto was standing frozen to the side, clearly not believing this.

"I have no defense to what lengths I went to back then to protect Yugi. I know they often went too far. I have grown much from that time. I am no longer the vengeful spirit you knew." Not Yugi said with all the anger gone from his voice. He then bowed to the two, making Tetsu jump back, and Ryuichi's eyes widen in shock "I apologize for all the pain I have caused you two. I know words aren't enough, but that is all I can give at the moment. I hope that the penalty games have worn off by now. If not, and if there are any lingering effects, I will do my best to fix them now."

The last of Tetsu's walls shattered. Yugi, or Not Yugi, or whoever this was! Was he apologizing? To Tetsu?! The man he considered as bad as the other criminals in the mental hospital? He felt… sorry? This made every feeling go numb in Tetsu. He had been planning for any other outcome for this conversation, but this? While this apology wouldn't give him back his year in the mental hospital, Tetsu suddenly found he didn't care. Just the fact that this "monster" thought enough about him to want to apologize... Tetsu felt something, he wouldn't call it happiness, but it wasn't sadness, anger, or fear either.

"Yeah, protectin' Yugi..." Ryuichi grumbled. Tetsu turned in surprise to hear Ryuichi say anything at all. "Protected Yugi so hard dat he forced dis guy to be hospitalized for over a year," Ryuichi growled as he gestured to Tetsu. Tetsu quickly shook his head and tried to smile, just to show no hard feelings. He even jabbed Ryuichi's side but the unluckiest man alive only pushed him away.

"Yeah, protected Yugi so well dat you took everythin' from my fellow Game Masters and me!" Ryuichi yelled. He tried to stomp up to Not Yugi, but both Tetsu and Mr. Muto got in his way.

"I think it's time for us to go home, we're clearly all too tired to talk coherently." Mr. Muto tried to laugh. Just then a flash came from Not Yugi. Everyone had to shield their eyes as a bright golden light came from the puzzle's center eye.

"I am more than just sleep deprivation talking." Not Yugi said, more commanded. Everyone then noticed various snacks floating beside them. They all lifted out of their holders as if on invisible strings and began to slowly circle Not Yugi, his wild hair flowing like it was in some sort of wind storm. Then the light disappeared, and everything fell. Not Yugi looked exhausted after that show.

"I have little magic at the moment, but that should be enough to prove my words." Not Yugi sighed. He then looked back to the group. "I am sorry I can not answer many questions, but I hope that at least gave you two a bit of closure."

The group stood stunned for many moments. Tetsu was unsure how to feel. Honestly, it felt like his entire brain just shattered. He was more exhausted than anything else. It was funny to him, because of all the things he could have been thinking at that moment, he was worried about how he was going to stay awake for the rest of his eight-hour shift.

"…No, I want more dan just an apology! Use your ancient Aztec or whatever magic to give my luck back, or Tetsu the year of his life back!" Ryuichi yelled as he tried to fight out of the two mens' grip.

"Calm down! Don't make him start another shadow game!" Tetsu yelped.

"Oh, he won't, he's 'grown past that.'" The struggling boy said in a nasally interpretation of Not Yugi's voice. Not Yugi could only take a step back in surprise.

"I-I did not realize I took your luck. That was not part of the penalty game." Not Yugi stammered.

"What do you mean?! What is even going on here?!" Mr. Muto yelled as he hefted Ryuichi over his shoulder and threw him behind the front counter. Tetsu immediately ran to his co-worker's side and helped him to his feet. He was uninjured other than a bump on the head "You all know this sounds absolutely crazy, right?! And what was that!?" He said pointing to the candy bars now on the floor.

"A little shadow magic to show the truth of my words." Not Yugi responded.

"Just a little magic-?!" Mr. Muto gasped. His face then turned down in a snarl as he suddenly turned to Not Yugi's side, "And don't you float another inch closer to me!" Mr. Muto shouted at the thin air.

"Don't talk to Dark Magician like that." Not Yugi said in a low voice. "He only wishes to help."

Tetsu couldn't figure out what the two were talking about, but Mr. Muto's eyes immediately widened when he heard what his not son said. He fell back in shock and attempted to crawl away from the empty space next to Yugi. Fear now replacing any anger.

"Dark-Dark… You can see it?" He stammered.

"Yes, that is something else we are going to have to talk about more at home. The hallucinations you have been seeing are most likely real, but only if they are duel monsters!" Not Yugi quickly added. Mr. Muto completely stiffened as he stared at Not Yugi. He was about to open his mouth when Ryuichi just had to open his own.

"Just for your information Yugi's Dad. That thing right dere has electrocuted me to near fryin', took my natural talent, threw dis boy off the school roof, and made him see hallucinations everywhere! He is no protector. He's a demon!" Ryuichi yelled.

"Only after you abused Yugi and his friend with your luck!" Not Yugi shouted. Then he turned to Tetsu with the same angry tone. How Tetsu wanted to scream to the heavens that he didn't agree with Ryuichi's death wish. "And after you extorted freshman Yugi with a price he could never reach, then beat him near to death for failing to pay!"

"It was more than that, you enjoyed hurting us!" Ryuichi shot back.

"You _**WHAT?!**_" It was Mr. Muto that shouted this time. No, more than shouted, he roared. Everyone immediately turned to the man, fear even clear on Not Yugi's face. Mr. Muto stood, trembling from every limb as he stared down the group. Tetsu didn't know if he was trembling in fear or rage. What made this worse was that they didn't know who Mr. Muto was referring too. No one knew who was the first that needed to run.

Mr. Muto slowly looked down at the ground as his fists curled. Eventually, the trembling stopped, and he stood still, his wide eyes only on the ground.

"You… You enjoy hurting... and many others… you see monsters too." He whispered, as if on the verge of crying.

Mr. Muto's mental snap was almost audible to Tetsu. He kept standing there, all his emotions draining from him and leaving nothing but a hollow shell. Eventually, Not Yugi took a few tentative steps towards him.

"Let's go home, Junior. We need to talk to Grandpa." Not Yugi said. Slowly, Mr. Muto blinked, then nodded. All without changing that hollow, tired expression. Not Yugi then started to lead the man towards the door, grabbing a purple slushie cup along the way.

"Wait!" Ryuichi yelled. Tetsu groaned and was about ready to leave his co-worker to his self-dug grave. "You didn't pay for your slushie!" Ryuichi shouted as he raced to the cash register.

Tetsu's mouth dropped open. "Now you care about sales?!"

The two Mutos looked at each other. "Right, we have to pay." Not Yugi said. Mr. Muto robotically felt around his pockets.

"My wallet's gone." He said in a dead voice. He didn't even look around. He simply stared at Not Yugi.

"I saw you pick it up before we left the house. It must be back by the machines." Not Yugi suggested as he had to lead the near-comatose father to the back of the shop to find it. As they did, Ryuichi crossed his arms and grinned to himself. He was standing proud as if he had somehow won over the two.

"What are you doing?! We almost had them out of here!" Tetsu whispered. Ryuichi only laughed.

"Even ancient spirits aren't above paying for their treats," Ryuichi said with that smug smile that usually got him a knuckle sandwich.

"But why them?!"

"Isn't it clear, he needs the money." Another much deeper voice came from the store's sliding doors. Ryuichi jumped higher than he did for Not Yugi as he saw two tall men walk into the shop. They had no-nonsense expressions and a dark paper bag in each of their hands.

"The Hendricks." Ryuichi squeaked. Tetsu couldn't believe his eyes could get any wider that night, but somehow, they managed.

"We're here for your debts Fuwa. You're out of time." One of the twins said as he sidled up to the register. Ryuichi could only try and back up, Tetsu following suit. These brothers were even bigger than Tetsu, and there were two of them.

"I'm guessing you don't have it?" The other brother said.

"N-no, but I will! Hey, how about another game?! Winner takes all-" Ryuichi was cut off by one of the brothers pulling out a handgun from the paper bag he was carrying, his brother doing likewise. They did it so smoothly, so quietly, that it made Tetsu's blood freeze over.

"No, I believe you'll pay your down payment now. Let's start by what's in the register." One said. The other then nudged his brother and gestured towards Tetsu. "Oh, and what your kind friend has to offer. I'm sure he won't want anything bad happening to his co-worker."

"We have the wallet." Not Yugi voice came from the back as he and Mr. Muto came forward, not realizing that a robbery was happening. His not father was moving just as emotionlessly as before. He didn't even glance up as they stood behind the brothers.

"That's good for you Ryuichi, more friends to help pay off your debts." One of the brothers smiled as one kept the gun on the two boys, and the other turned to the Mutos.

"No," Tetsu whispered under his breath as the other man pointed his gun at the Mutos. They really were all going to die today. The question was, were they going by bullet or shadow magic?

"Fuwa here has some massive gambling debts, too large for someone of his age. You mind helping lower them a bit?" The brother said.

As soon as the two Mutos realized they had a gun on them they immediately put their hands up. Tetsu had expected to find that cursed yellow eye on Not Yugi's forehead, or at least his confident expression. Instead, he found a surprised and almost scared boy. The father wasn't much better, being somehow just as dead as before.

"Do you mind handing over that wallet you so graciously found?"

Mr. Muto immediately held out his wallet, no fight, and no words. The brother happily snatched it. He started to back away when the other brother looked over.

"Hey! Is that the King of Games?" He asked. Once Not Yugi heard his title he started backing away from his not father.

"You know what? I think it is." The closer brother then pointed his gun straight at Yugi's head. "I believe you have a nice dueling deck that we could sell for quite a bit. And before you ask, no. We won't duel you for it. Unless you want to see if your cards can stop a bullet." He laughed.

Not Yugi's face suddenly turned determined. An expression that made both Ryuichi and Tetsu simultaneously shrink back in fear and sigh in relief. Not Yugi then leaned forward right into the gun's barrel.

"I would love to see you try firing that thing." Not Yugi said in a voice that Tetsu remembered all too well. "You kill me, and there will be more on your tail then just the police. It would be a lot of trouble, more than you two would want. With the gangs in this city just about wiped out, you two are all that's left, aren't you?" Not Yugi then reached into his back pouch and produced his deck. He then started flipping the cards from one hand to the other. The entire time continually backing up.

Tetsu didn't know what the spirit had planned. If he wanted to protect Yugi so badly, why was he putting his body in danger? Then Tetsu noticed how the brother in front of him and Ryuichi had his attention on the brazen Muto too. In fact, both brothers had turned completely away. Tetsu didn't know how Not Yugi could be that distracting until he saw the faint glow from his gold necklace. Tetsu then glanced at the door, and Ryuichi did more than just glance. He bolted over the counter and ran for the exit, Tetsu close behind. Somehow their feet didn't seem to make a sound. Tetsu just decided to write it off as magic and keep running.

Tetsu had expected Mr. Muto to be behind him, but the man wasn't moving. Yugi continued to distract the two brothers away from the door and made sure they were by the noisy slushie machines to cover the sound of the sliding door.

Once outside Ryuichi raced into the darkness and didn't seem like he was stopping. Tetsu wanted to follow, but the pit in his stomach stopped him. He quickly dialed the police and told them the address and about the robbery. Then he turned back to the store-wide window. Inside he saw as Not Yugi was cornered. He had nowhere else to back up into. He kept up his confident smile and was still talking, but Tetsu couldn't make out what he was saying. One of the brothers suddenly started reaching for the deck. Tetsu was about to call the two's attention to himself when another man got it first. Mr. Muto suddenly appeared next to one of the brothers, a purple slushie in one hand. He said something and gestured to the drink, causing the two brothers to look down at it.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Tetsu really did run that time, and he didn't look back. He couldn't be there anymore, not when that smile, that cursed dragon-like smile, was now on Mr. Muto's face.


	18. Ain't Any Invisible Guns in this World

Yami thought that whole conversation could have gone better. He didn't want to have the discussion about his existence at a late-night gas station, alone. He wanted his friends and Grandpa to be by his side as he explained everything to the rest of the Muto family. Yet, destiny, or the Gods or whatever kept shoving Yami in these situations just had to have both Tetsu and Ryuichi work at this mart too. The awkwardness that permeated the whole conversation could have been cut and harvested with a scythe. Each of Yami's words sounded so hollow, even though he meant every one of them. He felt he couldn't leave this mart without explaining his side of the story to the two; he owed them that much after his penalty games.

'Just… Gods, why does Junior have to be here too?' Yami thought after using the little magic he had to levitate a few candy bars. The father's horrified and unbelieving expression told Yami this was not helping their relationship.

The entire explanation Yami found himself reverting to his old way of talking, it was a much more formal and intimidating voice. He didn't intend to speak like that, but he felt it was the only way to make them understand. Yami's following minute of explanation only caused more questions, all because he didn't want Trudge and Fuwa to know everything about him. While he did regret his past actions and felt it his duty to explain things, he was still wary of the two that once hurt Yugi so much. Yami did not want them back in their shared life.

Then Yami's apology… Oh, his apology. He wished he had the eloquence of Téa or Grandpa as he apologized, yet every word seemed to come out with a dry plop. Even when it came to Yugi, Yami always found his apologizing skills lacking. Once again, he meant everything he said; he just wished he had the words to back up his feelings. Yami knew no one would accept an apology like he gave. Ryuichi's following anger was proof of that. Yami was way out of his element here. As a pharaoh, he'd think that he'd had training for diplomacy, but if Yami once did, he certainly wasn't remembering those lessons now. It all became so much worse when Yami lost his temper.

"He is no protector, he's a demon!" Ryuichi yelled. Yami felt as his blood boiled over. His control over his emotions had reached its limit for the night. He snapped his head towards the two that were at one time not much better than him. His quick retort back at them only made Tetsu more fearful and Ryuichi angrier. His anger then led to the thing Yami had been secretly fearing would be said about his past in front of Junior.

"It was more than that, you enjoyed hurting us!" Ryuichi shot back.

"You _**WHAT?!**_"

What had been boiling immediately froze as Yami turned to Junior. The Pharaoh knew what it looked like, and at one time, it might have even been true. Junior now had to face the fact that Yami, whether he believed the pharaoh was his son or not, seemed to inherit all of his worst traits. His old need to toy with others, his seeming enjoyment of it, and even his ability to see monsters. It was every part of Junior the man had tried to get away from. Yami saw it in his trembling eyes and curled fists. He was a lion ready to spring. Yami quickly took another step back, Dark Magician leaping to his side and prepared to defend.

"You… You enjoy hurting... and many others… you see monsters too." Junior whispered.

Yami watched with apprehension as Junior lost all his color and grew still. Yami recognized that stance, the face of someone who was just mind crushed. Yami swallowed hard. Even though there was no shadow magic involved here he was just as worried about the damage done. He then took one tentative step forward. Junior seemed more like a small deer than a lion at that moment. Yami needed to get him out of here, away from the pharaoh's past mistakes.

"Let's go home, Junior. We need to talk to Grandpa." Yami whispered, fearing that he'd make Junior jump. The man only nodded, everything gone from behind his eyes.

Yami wasn't sure if Junior was in a state to drive, but that worry was put aside as Ryuichi reminded them that they had slushies to pay for. At that point, Yami was too tired to be annoyed; he simply wanted to get home and away from this messed up day. Junior was at least mentally present enough to move to the back and get his wallet.

Then those robbers barged in.

Yami immediately recognized their ilk when they turned their guns on him. The left-over scum from the city, a pair much like the old villains he used to give penalty games to. However, Yami had promised Yugi long ago never to play such games with people again, no matter how bad (not that he could with how little magic the new rocky Millennium Puzzle carried). His inner justice wanted him to fight these two; it was screaming for him to do something, but what could he do that wouldn't get the others shot? Junior immediately handed over his wallet. Yami waited for the men to leave with gritted teeth when it happened, one of the two robbers just had to recognize him.

'Oh, come on!' Yami mentally yelled at the universe as he backed up. He was not letting them take his deck. It thankfully did not carry the Egyptian God Cards at the moment, but even still Yami was not allowing these robbers to get their hands on a single card. He also knew he couldn't let the second robber keep everyone else at gunpoint. Yami fell back on an old trick of his, using his confidence to bluff.

"With the gangs in this city just about wiped out, you two are all that's left, aren't you?" Yami threatened as he activated what minuscule magic he had left. He then pulled out his deck and started shuffling it, to add to the small magical effect. He wanted both robbers' eyes on only him and away from the others. Yami suddenly became more interesting than anyone else in the room.

Yami continued to back up, talking near nonsense at this point to keep both robbers' following him. It was a small game, a staring contest. The first to blink would lose. If Yami stopped, the robbers would break out of the tiny enchantment. If the robbers paused, he would run for the back exit. Yami, in the side of his eye, checked to make sure the others had gotten out. When he saw no one else in the mart, he started backing up more quickly now that the others were out of danger.

This little plan was going great, Yami was almost to the corner where he could break for the exit. He then suddenly felt his back hit a shelf. He had accidentally stepped too far to the right instead of walking straight backward. He never lost eye contact, but his sudden stop caused one of the robbers to wake a bit. He started reaching out for the deck. Yami was prepared to use the man's reach against him. When the man grabbed his hand, Yami would pull him in front of his partner and escape. Then Junior walked up, breaking the small spell completely for both thieves.

Yami's heart stopped when he saw that Yugi's father hadn't left. The Pharaoh wanted to scream in both anger and fear for the man to run.

"Please! You guys might want to see this." Junior said in a panicked voice as he pointed down at the half-filled slushie cup. Both robbers glanced to each other suspiciously. One brought up his gun to point at Junior while they both looked down at the cup.

With a crunch Junior completely crushed the cup, causing its remaining contents to spray in both robbers' eyes. As each recoiled back, Junior immediately dropped the cup and grabbed the outstretched arm holding the gun. He held the man's wrist and twisted the gun out of his surprised grip. In the same movement, he yanked the man forward and punched him square in the face. A gunshot rang out, and Yami shut his eyes in surprise. He had only been that close to a gunshot once before. The next sound Yami heard was as the slushie cup splatted against the floor.

"Drop the gun and get on the ground," Junior said in a loud, yet clear voice. Yami peeked to see that Junior had turned from the downed robber and faced the remaining man, his partner's gun aimed at him now.

The last robber was still stumbling back; his weapon pointed straight at the ground as he attempted to wipe the slushie from his eye. The gunshot had been from his weapon, and it left a stray bullet hole in the floor. By the time the thief looked up, he was staring down a barrel and those emotionless crimson eyes.

"You let your gun go off in your surprise; you're not trained. So, here's the question of the hour. Do you think you're fast enough to bring your entire arm up before I flex my finger?" Junior said, nearly laughed. The robber's eyes grew wide. All his bravado was gone as he looked at Junior's well-trained handle of the gun. Then he glanced to see his partner who was knocked out with a single punch.

"Drop the gun and get on the ground."

The clatter of the gun as it fell to the floor let Yami take his first real breath as the robber kneeled, his hands behind his head. After Junior kicked the other gun far across the mart, he glanced to Yami.

"Champ, I want you to walk slowly around and stand near the register. I don't want you in grabbing range if either of these men decides to do something…" Junior then moved the gun's barrel just a little closer to the still conscious robber. "…Very stupid."

Yami didn't need to be told twice. He slowly sidestepped the unconscious one and walked to the register.

What had frightened, no, more than frightened, completely scared Yami most about this whole experience wasn't even that he was one hair from death, he had dealt with that too many times to count. It was the smoothness and speed Junior had disarmed these two, all with that smile on his face. It wasn't the kind smile like Yami had seen at the arcade or lunch table, this was the mad smile of a man enjoying having these two at his mercy.

'I found I loved having power over others. To the point of enjoying hurting them…' Junior's words echoed through Yami's head. The Pharaoh's heart turned to ice as he thought about what he just unintentionally did. First, he overwhelmed Junior to the point of breaking his mind; then, he helped give him a gun.

Yami felt as his face went pale. He tried to hide his fear by putting his hands in his pockets, but it must have been clear he was unusually spooked because he felt a hand on his shoulder. Yami looked up to see Dark Magician by his side. The strange duel spirit's face readily showed worry. Yami smiled back at the spirit but found he couldn't relax.

"I'm fine. Thank you." Yami whispered to Dark Magician.

"So, you really can see it?" Junior called, looking at the duel spirit. Yami was at first surprised, but then he slowly nodded.

"Wow… that, that." Junior then sighed. "That explains so many things I didn't even know I was questioning." He seemed relieved for a moment; then, his concentration returned to the robbers.

"Do you think those two boys called the police in their rush out?" Junior asked gesturing to the sliding doors.

Yami quickly glanced out into the darkness to see no one there. "I… don't know."

"We might want to do it then. You have Yugi's phone?" Junior asked, his glare never leaving.

"Ah, yes. Right here." Yami quickly turned away and fumbled for emergency services. As he spoke to the operator, he noticed Junior forcing the robber to follow at gunpoint to the slushie machines. Yami lost sight of them behind some shelves, but soon they came back out with some thick black wire, probably from the dispensers. Junior then had the robber sit down with his hands behind his back. Junior used the wire to tie the man's hands together and sat him in a corner.

"There, that way I can better watch both of you if your buddy so happens to wake up. And before you think you can break that wire and take me by surprise, you'll find I'm a quick shot and have an even quicker temper." Junior said with that twisted smile returning to his face. The robber quickly nodded and kept his head down.

"They're already on the way." Yami yelped, feeling a sudden need to get Junior's attention away from the robbers.

"That's good. Hopefully, the police get here before this other bozo wakes up. A punch like that usually keeps them down for a good fifteen-minutes, give or take a bit." Junior shrugged, talking like this was an everyday occurrence. Yami shivered when he thought this probably was for Junior at one point.

"So, I want the how, why, and all of it," Junior said, his eyes or gun never leaving the two robbers.

"Huh?" Yami asked.

"It's your turn to explain Yami, and tell me everything," Junior said, his voice dipping into a more threatening tone. "Yami is your name, right? That was what Yugi's friends called you earlier. I'm guessing they already know?"

Yami could only nod. "Yes. Grandpa knows too, but he only found out this afternoon. However, Yami isn't actually my name. As I said, I know nothing personal about myself."

"Isn't that convenient," Junior said, the first time Yami heard that kind of sarcasm from his voice. "Let's jump to the most important question then." Junior took his eyes off the thieves to stare Yami down. Everything from the quiet, sweet man Yami had seen earlier that day was gone from his scarred face.

"Where is my son?"

The pharaoh could only stand in silence. Yami wanted to speak, but he found his voice refused to work. There was a weight on Yami's chest. He tried to tell himself that he had faced more dangerous conversations. Each with worse villains that would have happily ended him if he backed down at all. Yet this man, this man that looked so much like Yugi was the one to make him falter. Yami found he just couldn't say it. How could he explain to this enraged dragon that he had failed his son?

"Well? If you were serious about your declarations of caring for my son, you better know where he is." Junior said, a hint of a growl coming to his words.

"He's soul is missing... He disappeared this morning, but I know where he is. It involves duel spirits… I think." Yami managed to say, his eyes darting from the gun to Junior.

"You think?!" Junior truly did growl this time. "I'm going to need more than that, oh great pharaoh. Where is he?!"

"In the duel monsters world. I think he was pulled there by a wishing well-"

"Is he safe?!"

"I-I don't know for sure. But we have so many spirit companions there, I don't believe he would be in immediate danger in that world-"

"Now entire worlds of these things! Why haven't you or your floating friend there got him back yet? Can't you use some of that dark magic?"

"It doesn't work like that-"

"Oh! You seemly had all this power to torment Yugi's classmates, but you can't get Yugi back?!" Junior snarled.

"I'm trying-"

"And why was he taken there in the first place?! Why didn't you stop it if you were so set on protecting him?!"

Yami found his breath to be failing him along with his voice. He was right back to the Seal of Orichalcos and when Dartz almost convinced him to surrender. That feeling of sinking and being unable to swim up or even move. He was drowning in his own body. It was somehow worse than facing literal demons and mind-melting shadow magic. Each of those times Yami found the strength through all his fear to stand tall. Here, he was alone, tired, and forced to face his worst, most self-destructive thoughts being shouted at him by someone so much like Yugi. The Pharaoh was absolutely terrified.

"Why aren't you doing more to bring him back-?!" Junior began to yell, Yami flinching in response when Dark Magician stepped in front of Yami and thrust his scepter forward, pointing right at Junior. Junior stopped midsentence as he glared at the duel spirit. The magician gestured at himself, then to Junior. Specifically pointing out their height difference. Then the magician gestured to the smaller Yami.

Junior paused as he looked over the spirit, their eyes meeting. Then he turned his gaze back to Yami. His scowl immediately disappeared; in fact, all his anger seemed to fly away.

"You're just a kid," Junior whispered. Though they were across the room from each other, the silence of the shop allowed Yami to hear his quiet words. Yami perked back up as he looked at Junior's changing demeanor.

Juniors hand covered half his face as he shook his head, "I'm yelling at a confused and scared, dead kid." He groaned.

Yami, unsure of what to make of that statement, took a step away from Junior. He ended up putting his back to the register as he tried to get control of his breathing again. As Yami slowed his breath, he heard Junior whisper something to himself in Japanese. This was a language Yami had picked up a few words in thanks to living in the same house as Yui for years. While he couldn't translate most of it, he thought he heard something along the lines of,

"What are you doing, Solomon?"

Junior then pulled his hand away and looked to the reflective metal plating on the slushie machines. He was silent for a while. "You only remember your life with Yugi?" Junior eventually asked, his voice much gentler.

Yami kept his eyes away from the father as he answered. "Yes, I've only ever been by his side. He is everything to me."

Junior then looked back to Yami with a sad smile. "Yugi really is a great kid. You must miss him right now. It would be extremely lonely to go from sharing a body to being on your own, even with loving people surrounding you. Especially when you don't have any other reference point of how life is supposed to be."

Yami crossed his arms in front of him, surprised that he so quickly guessed something Yami did his best to hide. "It… is. I have my friends and Grandpa now but…"

"It's not the same. You can have a hundred people in the room with you, but you still feel like a monster pretending to be human. It can get so lonely it hurts." Junior said.

Yami wasn't so sure if he related to all of that, but he wasn't about to voice those thoughts. He instead felt as his breath returned to normal and his goosebumps subsided. Yami took in his first controlled breath and turned back to Junior. There stood Yugi's dad, the short, soft-spoken man that went way below the speed limit and liked vanilla shakes as opposed to Yugi's strawberry shakes.

"When you feel comfortable Yami, I hope you'll explain more about Yugi and these spirits. That time doesn't have to be tonight though. I'll believe you when you say you don't think Yugi is in immediate danger. He is the King of Games, after all. Let's just focus on the mission in front of us." Junior said with a small smile that mixed sadness and regret equally.

Yami felt his shoulders relax. While he still wanted to be nowhere near Junior and those muggers, his overwhelming panic attack had subsided. He was able to stand tall.

It was silent. The only things that dared make a sound in the mart were the air-conditioning and freezers.

"I'm sorry." Junior breathed.

"Pardon?" Yami asked

"For all this." Junior vaguely gestured around with a groan. "It's been a scary day for both of us. I didn't need to go and make it worse; you didn't deserve all that." Junior said as he exhaled a long breath.

Yami thought a few moments before speaking. "I understand. You want to protect Yugi, and a robbery doesn't exactly calm someone down."

Junior looked surprised to hear Yami speak to him. "Heh, yeah. Its why I try to avoid unneeded fights outside my job. I don't want to go too far just to 'win.' But I often judge wrong on what's worth fighting for." He said as he glanced to Yami's deck, specifically the Kuriboh card still on the top of the deck. Yami noticed him do it and smiled to himself.

"We'll have much to talk about after all this."

Finally, the police came. At that point, everything became almost dream-like to Yami. His tiredness from a full day of running around the city, emotionally draining confessions, and use of shadow magic finally caught up to him. Yami did his best to stay standing, but he found his legs to be turning to jelly right under him.

'Is this normal for a mortal body?' Yami thought, before shaking his head to keep his eyes open.

When the police burst in, they demanded Junior drop his gun. Junior complied immediately, and the cops cuffed him. Once the police got the full story from the two, they took the real criminals away (once they woke the one with a newly broken nose) and freed Junior. The main problem was there was no video footage of the robbery, and it ended up being the two Mutos' word against the two robbers. Yami was at first worried they'd blame Junior, but it turned out the two robbers were wanted criminals. The police were happy to take the two back to the station.

As the police started getting official statements, Yami collapsed mid-sentence. Thankfully Junior caught him, and Yami woke up. He did his best to hide his embarrassment at failing to stay awake in such an important conversation. Yami assured everyone that he was unhurt and did not want to go to the hospital, yet he was still weaving on his feet. The police knew then that the two Mutos were done for the night (or morning as it was). They trusted the two would follow up with them and gave him the address to the police station for the morning. Junior thanked them, and the two finally walked back to the car.

Yami collapsed in the passenger seat, and Junior started the car up. Dark Magician kept close to Yami, and it was clear even to the tired pharaoh that Junior didn't know how to react with the duel spirit around. Instead of driving right through him like before, Junior went around the spirit and gave the occasional awkward wave at the magician. Dark Magician's face remained blank.

"That was very nice of those officers. Usually, it takes much longer to…" Junior began to say, Dark Magician floating alongside them. Junior then noticed Yami bobbing his head in his attempt to stay awake. Junior closed his mouth and merely smiled. They drove back in silence, letting Yami drift off.

…

"Hey, champ. You need to get into bed." Junior said as he opened the side passenger door. He had almost slunk back into the house without noticing that the kid hadn't woken up yet. Yami jolted awake at Junior's words but quickly fell back, his eyes only managing to stay half-open.

"Very well…" Yami tried once again to sit up, but his body seemed determined to remain lying back. Junior's brows furrowed as he noticed the kid's losing fight with consciousness.

"Are you ok?" Junior asked as he kneeled and started looking over Yami for any sign of an injury. Did a stray bullet fragment hit him? Was he bleeding out somewhere? Was the experience too much for the boy?!

"I'm fine… Just very tired. I think that magic took a great deal out of me... The Millennium Puzzle usually takes most of the strain… but since Yugi left the puzzle has been off..." Yami managed to say before closing his eyes.

"Hey, hey!" Junior felt as his heart started pounding against his chest. He tried to pat Yami awake, but the boy was out. Junior then felt for a pulse and breath, both slow, but only as slow as a sleeping child's rate should be. He then frantically looked to Dark Magician. The spirit looked over the pharaoh and sighed. It then pointed to Yugi's window.

"Is something there I need to get?" Junior asked, about ready to dash for the shop. Dark Magician shook its head and gestured to Yami. It then pointed back to Yugi's room, all while putting its hands together and resting its head on them, the sign for sleep,

"Rest, he just needs rest." Junior sighed in relief. He reached into the car and lifted out the pharaoh. "Geez, Yugi you've grown since I last had to lift you, err Yami. Whoever this is." Junior did his best to whisper his complaints as he had to take a few frantic steps back to stop them both from toppling over. Once he had found his balance, he had a small feeling that a certain magician was laughing at him. He glared in the spirit's direction, but the spirit's face was still blank.

"I'd love to see you help Houdini," Junior whispered. Dark Magician's expression never changed, no judgment or mirth on its face. Junior frowned at the mage, realizing that he was once again talking to things that weren't there, something he promised he'd never do again.

'Then again, apparently these things are real? And there's a whole world full of them that Yugi's at. If that's true… how did they end up as cards and how did I see them before duel monsters were invented?!' Junior shook his head in an attempt to clear it. That train of thought could quickly run him over if he wasn't careful. Junior had to focus on the priority mission, get this boy in bed. Then he could have an existential crisis about a children's card game.

As Junior snuck into the house and locked the door behind him, he almost expected his father to flick on the lights and be sitting by the register in his bathrobe, like he used to do when Junior snuck out. Here there was nothing but a dark game shop, not even the sounds of the city could be heard. As Junior began to head for the stairs, Dark Magician floated through the door. All of Junior's neck hairs stood on end as he backed up from the spirit, preparing to defend the boy in his arms. Once he remembered who the ghost was Junior got control of himself and relaxed.

As Junior carried the boy up the stairs, he couldn't help but look down at his face. Junior had such a strong need to hug his sleeping son, but this wasn't his son now was it? It might as well have been a stranger he was carrying. Now that Junior knew the truth, he understood every weird thing he had seen the day before. Earlier, when he got back from the airport and woke up who he thought was Yugi, Junior had noticed many startling differences. While the boy was close to Yugi, there were just too many discrepancies in his mannerisms and facial features. Thanks to how the boy acted yesterday, Junior guessed his mental age to be about at Yugi's but that was the only real similarity. Junior had been trained to notice such inconsistencies and his quick-thinking brain did what it loved to do, overthink everything.

Junior had jumped from someone taking Yugi's place to the Neo-Spacians he had met at Area 51 coming back for him and every idea in between. Spirits had only crossed his mind once before Junior decided he was becoming paranoid again. It had been over a year since he had last seen Yugi, changes would happen, right? This Yugi did seem more like the Yugi he saw on TV too, yet still… Junior's danger alarm never entirely went away.

It all came to a head in that convenience store. Junior now regretted choosing such an open place to discuss his past, but he had always felt much safer there than at the shop. How was he supposed to have foreseen everything that would happen? The scariest thing of all that happened in that mart, was that the kid's explanation made so much sense to Junior.

From the few words, Yami and the two boys said, Junior was able to connect so many dots, too many dots in Junior's opinion. It had thrown so many of his long-buried faults back in his face. Then those robbers… Junior would have let them take his things; they were replaceable. But when they started grabbing for his son's deck, it flicked a long-dead switch in Junior. They were daring to do the thing he had felt so much shame for fiddling with earlier in the day.

Junior cringed as he remembered what he did afterward. He thought he was stronger than that, to fall so easily back into his old dragon persona. Then to go and take his frustration out on innocent Yami… It felt like he had just erased all the growth he had done in his years in therapy and working on himself as he traveled the world. Professionals had told him many times that the dragon would always be a part of him, whether he wanted it to be or not. The key was to control it.

'Yeah, right.'

Junior had hoped that he had buried the dragon, that it would never show itself again, but this clearly proved he was still dangerous. Oh, how he wanted to end those robbers for daring to mess with his son. How he wanted to prove that he won over them! While he managed to control himself, he had let all his anger out on this kid. This kid that was probably the 'friend almost exactly like him' that Yugi always alluded to in his phone calls. Junior was still a danger to his family; he had been wrong to come back. He had to leave.

Junior quickly dropped Yami in Yugi's bed and turned away. He was figuring out how fast he could get out of Domino city and if he had to wake Yui for it when Dark Magician floated through the doorway. Junior knew he could walk right through the spirit, but he found the magician's eyes holding him. Once again, there was no judgment from Dark Magician's side, but Junior couldn't help the shame that broiled in his chest.

"I'll get out of your way," Junior whispered as he stepped to the side. Dark Magician floated past him and stood beside Yugi's bed. It reached out for the deck Yami still wore on one of his many belts, but the spirit went right through the physical material. Yami then murmured and turned over, laying on the deck pouch.

'That can't be comfortable.' Junior thought as he realized he had left on all of Yugi's studded jewelry and belts. He didn't even think to take his shoes off. "Here, I got that," Junior whispered to Dark Magician as he tiptoed back to the bed. He started getting all the accessories off in the gentlest manner he could. As he worked, he remembered a time when Yugi had forgotten to take off his spiked jewelry when he first found his style. Yui nearly had a stroke as Yugi came down for breakfast with his neck covered in mysterious red dots. Junior smiled for real for the first time that night as he recalled that funny morning with his family.

Once everything was off Junior's hand lingered on the Millennium Puzzle. It certainly wouldn't be comfortable to sleep with that on, but if the spirit came from it, would it be safe to take it off? Junior looked hesitantly to Dark Magician. The spirit pointed to the bed's side table.

"Put it there?" Junior asked. Dark Magician nodded. Junior then carefully removed the puzzle and chain. Yami didn't even react to Junior lifting his head.

"He must have really been tired," Junior whispered as he laid the puzzle out on the table and covered Yami in the bed's blankets. He then looked to Dark Magician for any comment, none came. "Not much of a talker, are we?" The spirit remained silent, though it did bow to Junior. It then floated to the chair Junior had put the deck on. The spirit sat down, its scepter across its lap.

"Staying here for the night?" Junior asked. Once again, the spirit only nodded. "Good, he'll need someone to watch over him," Junior said with an affirmative nod. "I'll just get out of your hair then. Thank you for all you've done for the two." Junior said, guessing from Yugi's past comments that this card spirit was around since the very beginning. The ghost didn't answer, though its gaze did follow Junior as he left the room. Junior had just passed the door frame when he felt his heart sink; he couldn't help but turn back around to check one more time to make sure everything was fine. It was just the sleeping boy and Dark Magician. Junior sighed and walked away, ready to begin his plans to leave when he heard a small whine. He immediately turned to see Yami's face scrunched up in a grimace. The boy then rolled on his side and tugged his blankets closer.

Junior left the door in a rush. Only for him to half-sneak, half-run back to the doorway with a chair in his hands. He put down the chair and sat outside Yugi's room.

"I've seen soldiers dream the worst nightmares after experiencing situations like he just faced at the gas station. I want to be here in case he falls out of the bed or needs my father for support. That's something you can't exactly help with on your own, so I hope you don't think I'm intruding." Junior whispered over. Dark Magician looked at him for a few moments, then did the sign for sleeping as it gestured to Junior.

"Don't worry. I can sleep on this chair just fine. I find I'm not a fan of Yui's overly soft bed anyways." Junior said as he leaned back. "I'm happy to stand guard all night for him."


	19. The Hatchling

Yugi's eyes remained wide as he stared at the great Blue-Eyes White dragon. She looked just as majestic as the three dragon spirits that followed Seto around, but there was something undeniably different about this one's aura. Yugi felt completely safe and at peace around her.

"Y-You saved us? Why?" Yugi gasped.

"Why?" The dragon laughed. "Do you not remember? I suppose you were only a child. I swore to protect your family. Even in my currently limited state, I will always protect you with everything I have." She said as she stretched out her wings in pride.

As Yugi looked on in awe, he couldn't help but notice a horrendous scar that traveled the length of her body. It cut a jagged path right across her chest and ended near her tail. It wasn't like his father's scars. His had healed rather well and other than the large ones by his eye, they could be hidden. Blue-Eyes's scar looked like a fire had blazed across her, leaving smoldering and puffy embers behind. It didn't seem right on such a pure and beautiful dragon; it made her look like a shattered mirror. Yugi's shoulders fell as he realized the scar followed the path the rip in her duel monsters card would have.

Blue-Eyes noticed Yugi looking at the scar and merely shook her head. "That is the past, child. Let us move from that. You need to rest. After I picked you up from that mountain top, I brought you back to the Domain leader's castle. You have been out for a while."

"But how?" Yugi asked as he sat up and tried to get out of the bed. Blue-Eyes seemed confused by his question. Before Yugi could better explain himself, Mystic Elf gave him a stern shake of her head. Yugi closed his mouth and laid back in his bed.

"Please do not stress yourself Yugi. With how much healing you have left, we will have all the time to explain." Blue-Eyes said as she settled down with her legs tucked underneath her. Yugi couldn't help but smile at the image in front of him. The proud Blue-Eyes White Dragons rested like cats.

"How did you know where we were? Or even knew to find us? Were you locked in this domain too?" Yugi asked.

Blue-Eyes's confusion did not go away. "You were the one that called me." She said. It was Yugi that then grew confused. Blue-Eyes looked over him in worry for a few seconds. She then nodded in understanding. She reached behind Yugi's bed and pulled out the Millennium Puzzle; it still being miraculously together. Yugi immediately grabbed it, and Blue-Eyes let him hold it close to his chest.

"You must not know. I thought you would have figured it out by now with Kuriboh making themself one of your spirit partners in my absence. Nonetheless, it is because of the Millennium Puzzle that I knew you required help." Blue-Eyes said as Yugi looked back up to her, confusion still apparent on his face. "Do you know of spirit partners?"

"Uh… is it like ace monsters? Like Joey and his Red-Eyes?" Yugi tried.

"Sort of. Ace monsters are simply the focal point of a duel deck. A spirit partner goes much deeper. It is a card spirit that has chosen to remain with a human, either magically or through a deep bond growing between the two. They become connected, each growing stronger in the process. How they are connected is different to each partnership. I am one of your spirit partners and a partner to your entire family, even to those that do not want me." Blue-Eyes then pushed the Millennium Puzzle slightly with her snout. "Because of your Millennium item and our bond, I was able to hear your mental cry for help. I was not in this domain when I heard your faint pleas. In a lockdown, normal spirits cannot travel between the borders, even if they fit the credentials for crossing. But, special creatures that once worked with, or replaced, the Legendary Knights," Blue-Eye growled the word 'replaced.' "can travel through any border at any time."

Yugi looked in awe at the small upside-down pyramid. Then he turned back to the dragon. "Is that why the Silent soldiers got past the lockdown?"

Blue-Eyes once again growled. "Do not give those mercenaries the honor of soldier! They may have been a worthy replacement for the Knights originally, but those Silents have grown corrupt in the thousands of years since. If the other Blue-Eyes hadn't been so selfish, we would have worked together to dethrone them a long time ago." She snarled. Yugi sunk deeper under his covers as the dragon ranted.

"I had heard the Silent soldiers… that the Silents turned corrupt, but Silent Magician isn't like that. She even protected Gandora and me from the other Silents." Yugi quickly pointed out, now worried about his friend being judged before they knew her.

Blue-Eyes quickly stopped her growling and turned back to Yugi. "Silent Magician? Oh, the one from this domain. Yes, she is an honorable guardian. I did not mean to refer to her." Blue-Eyes backtracked. "To answer your earlier question before I distracted myself, yes, that is how they got in. The Silents may have been fired from their guardian role once the Legendary Knights came back, but they have always been able to change their levels and still possess the magic from their border guarding days. Thus, they can enter anywhere, even in a lockdown."

After hearing that, Yugi took in a deep breath and looked out the nearby window. Outside the sun's rays hit the beautiful green forest, well, perfectly. He could even see the occasional small monster strolling by. All the beasts seemed a little jumpy but otherwise seemed to be safe.

"Where are the Silent creatures now?" Yugi asked, not seeing anyone preparing for battle.

"They were not interested in fighting a legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon when they were equipped only for Gandora." Blue-Eyes smiled a toothy grin. "Their spellcasters came together to create a great barrier even I couldn't get through. I believe they tried to trap your group inside, but the Domain of the Beasts's Silent Magician managed to wake up enough to cast a counter-spell. I pulled your group out and the barrier trapped only the Silents inside. You were in critical condition, so we headed straight for Dark Magician Girl's castle. You've been healing ever since," Blue-Eyes explained. "As far as we can tell, the Silents have not left the mountain top."

Yugi then took account of his wounds. For how damaged he seemed on top of the mountain, he didn't seem that bad. He only felt sore. Even that soreness disappeared for a few moments as Mystic Elf used her healing magic on him. She only did it in small, second-long bursts before resting for a few minutes, but every time Yugi felt a little better.

"How are the others doing?" Yugi asked, concern returning to his voice.

Blue-Eyes shrugged. "Silent Magician was almost in worse condition than you. Using magic when she was clearly at her limit, add on leveling up." Blue-Eyes shook her head. "She did permanent damage to her body. She is currently healing too, but I believe she will not let a little thing like that hold her back. She woke up a few days ago, and she immediately jumped back into planning with Dark Magician Girl on the new monsters threatening this land."

Yugi sighed, relieved to hear that Silent was ok. Then he stiffened as another thought froze his very blood.

"A few days ago?! How long was I out?!" Yugi yelped, only to be then scolded by Mystic Elf.

"I already told you that you were out for a while," Blue-Eyes said, a bit of an edge to her voice.

"I know but… Oh, my family has to be freaking out. And what if the Pharaoh didn't go to Egypt as we planned?!" Yugi felt as all his fears for his ghostly friend started crashing down around him. Was he going to be the reason the Pharaoh never got his memories back?

"If you are worried about the human world moving on without you. Do not fret. Time is different in our two worlds." Blue-Eyes said.

Yugi paused in his apocalyptic imaginings."It is?"

"Yes, did you not come here once before? Did you not notice that when you went back to your world things seemingly didn't move?" Blue-Eyes asked.

Yugi thought back to when Dark Magician Girl had summoned the Pharaoh and himself to wake Timaeus. When they returned, even though they had been in the duel monsters world for many minutes, the clock hadn't moved forward at all.

"I do not know the exact conversions, but time moves faster here. What are a few years for us is more like months to you and so forth." Blue-Eyes explained. "For the length you have been here, it would be about a day for the humans."

Yugi took a deep breath and released all his worries for the moment. He hadn't messed with the Pharaoh's journey yet. "Ok, thank you for explaining that. I feel better now." Yugi said as he gave an apologetic smile to Mystic Elf. The healer put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. Yugi could only rub the back of his head and promise himself to remain calmer for now on. He then turned back to Blue-Eyes. "How are the rest of my spirit friends?"

"Your Kuriboh is more than fine. I'm surprised they're not bouncing around your room right now. They must be enjoying their new celebrity status."

"Celebrity?" Yugi asked with a tilt of his head. That was one word he never thought he'd hear in the same sentence as Kuriboh.

Blue-Eyes chuckled. "Yes, They are a regular superstar around this domain. Dark Magician Girl and I collected the story of your group's adventure from everyone a few days ago. It spread fast how many times that Kuriboh saved you three. Every monster here has been showering the puffball with praise for saving the great pharaoh and their Silent guardian."

Yugi found another big smile coming to his face. "That's great, Kuriboh deserves it for how much they had to put up with. How is Gandora?" Blue-Eyes immediately stiffened at her name, even turning from Yugi briefly. Yugi's smile faded.

"Once it spread that Silents were out to capture Gandora and were camped on top of the mountain, the wild Gandora mob went into hiding. Well, as hidden as they can be. I believe they are holed up in a gorge near the border by the fact that ravine is growing every day."

Yugi was quiet for a few moments. He found himself gripping his blankets. Eventually, Yugi shrugged and decided just to ask it straight. "How is the Gandora that was with me?" He said in a low voice. He didn't miss Blue-Eyes's flinch.

"She is… Well, she has not been making friends. Like all Gandora, she healed fast. Originally the monsters here wanted to kick her out once she could stand, but Silent Magician vouch so passionately for the dragon, she was allowed to stay. She… has not made a good impression since."

Just then another great roar shook the walls of the castle.

"I tell you I have a right to see him! He is my hatchling!" Yugi recognized that voice and groaned.

"Yes, she has wanted nothing but to stay by your side." Blue-Eyes sighed. "To the point of getting in the way of the healers. She has also attempted to scare everyone, even me, away from you. I believe that even though her physical wounds have healed; she must have sustained deep mental scars. She is convinced you are her last hatchling, somehow brought back to life by the wishing well."

"Oh, no." Yugi exhaled as he slapped his forehead. "I was afraid that's what she was talking about." He then looked out the large door to the hallway. He could still hear Gandora arguing with whatever guards they had stationed out there. 'At least she's not destroying anything.' Yugi thought.

"Yes, she has been very good about asking permission before she blows something up," Blue-Eyes answered.

"That's good… Wait! Did you read my mind?" Yugi yelped, sitting up again much to Mystic Elf's dismay.

Blue-Eyes once again pointed at the Millennium Puzzle. "We are spirit partners. Most partnerships can slightly foresee each other's actions. Your Millennium Puzzle made this ability stronger in our specific connection, to the point we can read each other's surface-level thoughts. Kuriboh might even share that ability with you."

Yugi felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He didn't know how to feel about someone being able to read his mind that was not the Pharaoh. Somehow with the Pharaoh, it seemed natural. Even if the spirit got too nosy (which was rare) Yugi knew how to shut him out. With this giant dragon, it felt almost like an invasion of privacy. How could he control what a surface level thought was?

"I will keep it to a minimum then," Blue-Eyes said.

"Please do. It's creepy!" Yugi said as he raised his blankets over his head in an attempt to hide from the protests of Gandora and Blue-Eyes's searching gaze.

As Mystic Elf cast another round of healing magic on Yugi, he couldn't help but peek out of his blankets and study the great dragon his family apparently had a magical connection with. Other than the scar she was just how he remembered her. She had a regal, kind air about her with a tint of pride — kind of like a grandma that still put on makeup and jewelry every day despite not planning to leave the house. Then, Yugi's earlier, dream-like memories came creeping back into his thoughts — the memories of how he and his father reacted to her when they were young.

'She had such a deep connection with us, and we threw her out.' he frowned.

Yugi tentatively poked his head out of the covers. "I should apologize. For my dad and I pretending like you didn't exist back then," he said with an embarrassed sigh.

Blue-Eyes chuckled. "It is all in the past. Your father is strong but unstable. I knew my, and other spirits presence would only make him worse. I should apologize for not being able to protect you when it mattered. Stories of your great adventures these last few years have spread through this world." She sighed, lifting her wing to look down at her large scar. "I wish I could have been with you through them. It's my greatest failing as a spirit partner. Once Kaiba ripped my card, I lost my connection to the human world. I can never go back." Her usually controlled voice cracked as she looked at her scar. Her vibrant blue-eyes becoming dull.

Yugi's heart fell as he looked at the proud dragon brought so low by one selfish action. One selfish act from someone he considered a friend. "You never failed me! But… I am sorry you can't be with us either. If it makes you feel any better, the Pharaoh and I beat the man that ripped you and got your card back. Grandpa has it displayed in the shop with all the honor of a family photo. He even taped it back together to the best of his abilities." Yugi said. The dragon grinned, her tail flicking back and forth. However, once she noticed her tail unconsciously moving she stopped it. She then sat up fully, probably in an attempt to get back her regal image.

"Thank you. It does make me smile to know I was not forgotten. I can only hope your other spirit partners are doing as good of a job as I would have. You and your family need all the protection you can get."

Yugi grinned. "I have how many other spirit partners-?"

"LET ME SEE HIM!" A great crash could be heard down the hall. It was then followed by orders to force Gandora away. Yugi sighed and looked up into the high ceilings.

"Poor Gandora," Yugi whispered.

"She is so set on believing that you were her child. While we healed you, we even checked to make sure your body and soul were fully human, just to try and placate her. We knew the negative results even before they came back. The great Pharaoh's spirit cannot reside in a human-duel monster body." Blue-Eyes sighed.

"There are human-duel monsters!?" Yugi asked, throwing off his covers in surprise. Mystic Elf gave up at this point and floated away.

"Oh, no, no, no! You misunderstand me. Only the prophesized Supreme King can combine a human and a duel spirit without losing the physical body." Blue-Eyes quickly corrected.

"The supreme who now?"

"Erm, don't worry about it," Blue-Eyes said with an embarrassed smile. "That prophecy will not come to past for another human generation. Even then, it will not be your problem. Let us focus on the now." Blue-Eyes reiterated before she continued.

"The closest thing to a hybrid is when a human and duel spirit with a partnership combine souls at death. It is a desperate move only done when both human and duel spirit have a burning need to stay in the living world. They become a creature that is not either spirit or human. A beast that cannot exist fully in either world. It is quite a torturous life, having the agelessness of duel monsters and the intelligence of humans, but not able to enjoy either."

Yugi wrapped his blanket around himself more tightly as he thought about such a life. "It's really that bad?"

"To be stuck in the human world but unable to interact with it as if he or she were a spirit, yes it would be 'bad.'" Blue-Eyes shook her head. "Anyway, you are a complete and utter human. There is no way you can be a Gandora hatchling." Blue-Eyes said, ending it with a dismissive flick of her tail.

Yugi was quiet for a few moments, letting what this meant for Gandora sink in. "Ok, I understand." Yugi tried to smile. His smile didn't stay long. He kept thinking of how to break that fact to Gandora.

"You are free to try and explain it to her. She won't listen to me." Blue-Eyes huffed, showing more hurt than she wanted to let on that someone didn't listen to her authority.

Yugi began to think of that future conversation, but it only made his heart sink lower and lower. So many of Gandora's weird quirks were starting to make sense to him now. Why she so suddenly changed from hostile to over-protective, why she questioned if he was human; she was trying to prove to herself that he was her child. There were still a lot of other questions Yugi had about Gandora, like why she didn't tell him her species had been enslaved? That would have gone a long way to explain why the other Gandora had been so, to put it nicely, rude. Yugi could only shake his head as he tried to put everything together. Gandora was so damaged already. What would it do to her to know she truly lost her child?

"I think I need more rest before I am strong enough to do that." Yugi sighed as he threw himself back into his pillow.

"Then please, sleep. We have much more in front of us." Blue-Eyes said as she laid beside Yugi, letting her head rest on the foot of his bed. She didn't try to keep up a conversation with him anymore. And at that moment, that was what Yugi wanted.

The white dragon's breathing became slow as the two laid in silence. Yugi felt as the sun's rays perfectly warmed his bed. It was the most comfortable he had felt in days. Even the unnerving perfectness of everything was starting to become standard in Yugi's eyes. All his worries for Gandora and the Pharaoh seemed to disappear as his body mended. Yugi closed his eyes and fell asleep. No nightmares crossbred with memories to bother him this time.

…

Yugi felt sticky, like he had accidentally splashed a shake on himself. He then heard a distant voice, his father's? If it was his father why was he yelling and what about? Why was he so mad at... at Yugi? Then a gunshot jolted Yugi awake.

Yugi's eyes popped open to see he was still in Dark Magician Girl's castle. His room was empty, Mystic Elf and Blue-Eyes both gone. He couldn't tell how long he had been sleeping since the sun was still in the same place in the sky. But by his growing headache, he guessed a while. He then felt his shirt. The sticky feeling was gone. As Yugi felt for the stain that he swore was there a few seconds ago, he suddenly forgot what he was even looking for. All those thoughts slipped away along with the last of his dream.

"So, he's woken up and talked?"

"Yes, he does not seem to have any long-lasting injuries. He should be able to walk very soon."

Yugi turned his head to the doorway to see Blue-Eyes and Dark Magician Girl as they walked in. The two were so interested in each other that they didn't notice that Yugi was awake. Yugi couldn't help but smile when he saw that Dark Magician Girl's injured left side looked leagues better than when he last saw her.

"Hey, guys. Good to hear my prognoses is so optimistic." Yugi said as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Oh, Yugi!" Dark Magician Girl yelped as she leaped to his side. She looked like she wanted to hug him, but reframed. She instead reached out and held his hand tight. Yugi grinned at her, happy to see another familiar face. Then she burst into tears.

"I'm so sorry! I should have never put you in such danger!" She bawled.

"Woah, Woah! It's fine Dark Magician Girl!" Yugi tried, but the great leader just kept crying. She held tighter to his hand, to the point Yugi started to lose feeling in it.

"I should have gone with you or sent more help!" She cried.

"We're all fine. You had no choice but to send only Silent and I up. You had to deal with the Gandoras' destruction, the monsters they hurt, plus your own injuries. How else were you going to get up the mountain to get your wish?" Yugi tried patting her on her good shoulder. She only sobbed harder at Yugi's words.

"I failed you! I didn't just send you to your deaths. I explained things so horribly I nearly cursed you!" She sobbed.

Yugi tried looking to Blue-Eyes for some backup, but the dragon merely shrugged.

"She did blunder that part." Blue-Eyes dryly stated.

"What part?" Yugi began to say before deciding calming Dark Magician Girl was more important. "I'm fine. I really am, in both body and mind. If you remember back, it was me that wanted to help you guys in the first place. You didn't force me to do anything."

Dark Magician Girl slowly got control of herself as Yugi continued to console her. She eventually took a deep breath and pulled away from Yugi. While she didn't sniffle anymore, her cheeks remained bright red as she talked.

"Sorry about this, that wasn't what a great domain leader should act like." She said more to herself than the two in the room. She then turned back to Yugi, standing tall with hands behind her back.

"Let me start again. I apologize for my lack of explanation before you and Silent Magician went out. It caused you to confuse your objective and put yourself in unneeded danger." She said in a stern voice that didn't fit her personality. Her attempts at professionalism seemed a little too cartoonish coming from a pink and blue magic girl. Yugi could only tilt his head.

"What do you mean? You seemed pretty clear when you sent Silent and me to the wishing well. Our job was to find and talk to the wishing well's guardian. Then see if he knows anything about these Gandora and if he would help." Yugi said.

"Yes, that is what she asked you two to do," Blue-Eyes said as she stepped forward. "But did you not find it strange that she was sending you to a magical wishing well to only talk to its guardian? Is it not odd that she didn't, say, ask you to make a wish to get rid of the Gandora?"

Yugi paused. He looked down at his bandaged hands then back to the monsters. "I did wonder that near the beginning. I thought since everyone got only one wish from the well, Dark Magician Girl didn't feel right asking me to use my only wish." Yugi shrugged. "I guess Silent Magician told you our plan to use our two wishes to bring back the Knights and send the Gandora away. We were happy to do it before the Silents came along."

Dark Magician Girl's face went slightly pale as Yugi spoke, but she kept her determined expression. "Yes, Silent Magician explained it to me a few days ago. I'm almost glad the other Silent creatures got in your way. I wish I had the forethought to explain this to you before you left, but I was so busy with healing and getting everyone evacuated I thought Silent would explain the rest of the well's properties to you. Apparently, she didn't know about the specifics of the wishing well either." Dark Magician Girl sighed. "It was wrong of me to put so much to chance."

Dark Magician Girl then bent down to look Yugi in the eyes, her mouth in a stern frown. "That wishing well is evil. That's why we have so many riddles, traps, and even a full-on dragon guarding it."

"W-what?" Yugi gasped. "But…it just grants wishes. Wouldn't the well guardian have warned Gandora if it meant her harm?"

Blue-Eyes chuckled in the corner. "The well guardian? Ol' Red-Eyes? He has probably forgotten by now how dangerous that wishing well could be. He is a very simple dragon, not wanting much in life. He seldom used his extra wishes in the thousands of years since he took the job. Though if you want an example of how vindictive that well can be, think of the well guardian's wish. He only wished that the Gandora would be let in the Domain of the Beasts. While the well could have simply teleported the Gandora inside, it instead banished the Knights to fulfill that request."

Yugi could only stare at the dragon as she explained, goosebumps slowly growing across his skin.

"That wishing well wants nothing more than to make you regret wishing on it! It has so many arbitrary rules for wishing to try and trip you up. Even if you word your wish perfectly, the well will happily break its own rules to mess with you." Dark Magician Girl explained. "It can't even do that much, only teleport. Why do you think I never used it before for things like the leviathan or your past villains?"

"Or I for fixing my ripped card?" Blue-Eyes asked.

Yugi could only turn away. How had he not thought of that? His head lowered as he looked away from the two monsters' gazes.

"Hey, Yugi." Dark Magician Girl said in a gentle voice as she floated to meet Yugi's eyes again. "Don't you go blaming yourself too. It was my fault for not explaining that bit of incredibly important information before you left."

Yugi couldn't help but give her a small smile. "Let's stop playing the blame game for now. I'm just happy that we are all safe and not cursed." Yugi said. Dark Magician Girl's award-winning grin came back with a vengeance.

"I can agree with that! We have a lot of other things to focus on anyway. Like the Gandora and the rogue band of Silent mercenaries. I would still like your help regarding that. You currently have the most contact with the two groups so I would like your report on-"

"HE'S AWAKE?! WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME?!" Gandora's roars could be heard coming closer and closer to the room. Both Dark Magician Girl's and Blue-Eyes' faces fell into annoyed scowls.

"Not her again." Dark Magician Girl murmured under her breath as she turned from Yugi. She lifted her scepter and shot a small ball of pink energy out. This energy went zooming out the door and down the hall, slowly growing in size.

"YUGI! MOM'S COMING-! OW! …Dark Magician Girl! If you are the one making these barriers, you know I can break through them! Dark Magician Girl? DARK MAGICIAN GIRL!?"

"May the stars watch over us." Blue-Eyes sighed, her eyes rolling to the sky.

"Gandora..." Yugi whispered, unable to keep his guilt away. Despite him knowing none of this was his fault, he couldn't help feeling responsible for both Gandora and what she did to everyone else.

'I am not Gandora's hatchling. I am simply her friend.' Yugi thought to himself in an attempt to stop his spiraling guilt. As he thought about hiding under the covers again, he suddenly remembered his dream. Specifically, the laughing Gandora as it stood over him. Once that flashed through his mind's eye, the rest of his memories of his younger days came flying in. He then picked up his pillow and hugged it.

'The wishing well likes to break its own rules…' Yugi thought. He was silent for many minutes before Blue-Eyes jumped and turned to him with wide eyes.

"No… That… You think?"

"I said stop reading my mind!" Yugi groaned as he dropped the pillow and pulled his knees to his chest. He thought intently about his next words before he finally sighed.

"Can Gandora come in?" He asked Dark Magician Girl. She looked absolutely horrified. She turned to Blue-Eyes, who only nodded at her. Dark Magician Girl seemed worried for both their sanities but eventually she gave a defeated sigh. She snapped her fingers, pink sparks flying from them.

"YUGI!" Before a second had passed, Gandora came charging in. She would have thrown herself at Yugi if it wasn't for Blue-Eyes and Dark Magician Girl in her way. The two managed to hold the desperate mother back long enough for her to realize what a bear hug would do to the fragile Yugi. Gandora then stood straight, holding her hands together in an attempt to calm herself down.

"I'm glad to see you Gandora," Yugi said as he looked down at the Millennium Puzzle, knowing what he was about to say would crush all the hope she had built up. "I'm so happy to see my dear friend wasn't taken."

"Yugi!" Gandora breathed, her eyes getting misty as she looked at him. "Oh, little one. I can't believe I let this happen to you. I'm so sorry, but I promise after this they are never going to steal you away from me-"

"Again. You were about to say again." Yugi said in a nearly monotone voice. "Yet, I've never been stolen from you before.

"Well… Yes… You see…" Gandora fidgeted. "I've wanted to tell you this ever since I realized it under that rubble pile you freed me from. I originally tried to convince myself that I was wrong, but from our travels together, I found there is no denying it. I wished that the well would 'bring me the last Gandora hatchling born, alive.' Do you see what I was getting at? The well doesn't understand names or pronouns other than species names, so I couldn't say bring my last hatchling back. I also knew asking for all my children back would be too much for the well. But since I'm the only brood mother in the previous hundred years, I would at least have one hatchling back." She explained all in one gasp, clearly too excited to even take a breath.

"Gandora wait-"

"And the wishing well answered with you! I don't understand how, but you are my hatchling. You have the same determined kindness as my last child, the same humor, you even share a love of boring riddles! I don't know how you ended up in a human body, most of all the great Pharaoh's host body, but I will love you all the same!"

Yugi flinched at those words, those desperate words. "Gandora… I am not your hatchling."

"Yes, you are! I knew the wishing well fulfilled my wish, even after that well guardian jumped into it. The well guardian doing that must have somehow sent you off course from appearing in front of me. It all clicked in my head when you got down that fruit without hurting anything! Yugi please-!"

"I did come here by the wishing well's power!" Yugi cut in. Gandora paused when Yugi screamed, her mouth starting to turn down in a frown. "It's the only explanation I have for me being here unless some hidden teleporter comes forward." Yugi then took another deep breath. He couldn't seem to get enough air for what he was about to say. "The wishing well did bring you a Gandora hatchling, but I am not your hatchling." Yugi then looked Gandora right in her eyes.

"I am the only child of, Gandora, Dragon of Destruction. The once leader of a private army run by KaibaCorp, a current member of a special task force for the American government, and a completely human man."

The room fell dead silent as Gandora and Dark Magician Girl looked on in mixed confusion. Blue-Eyes solemnly nodded.

"…What? How is that… You must still be hurt little one. You're making no sense." Gandora stuttered. "Come now. We can finally be a real family together, no war or fighting. Like we always dreamed." She begged, taking a step closer to the bed. Yugi could only turn away.

"Blue-Eyes can attest to what I'm saying. She was with my family as this happened." Yugi said as he looked to Blue-Eyes for any sort of support. While Blue-Eyes didn't say anything, she gave more than enough by standing by his side and slightly nuzzling him. Gandora let out a snarl at the nuzzle that Blue-Eyes readily answered.

"Remember how I said my dad liked your name after my Grandfather found it in Egyptian ruins? Well, my dad…" Yugi petered off here. Past this point, he wasn't supposed to know what happened. But he had been able to put together a picture of his dad's past. No matter how much his family tried to hide it. "My dad was about to do awful things. To protect himself and his family, he took on the name Gandora, Dragon of Destruction. His real name might have been Solomon Jr., but in those years the Dragon was his own person. I'm also sure during that time he really did act like a wild Gandora." Yugi said, his voice lowering as he clutched the Millenium Puzzle closer to him.

"I was born at that time, technically making me his hatchling," Yugi said, taking all his strength to turn back to Gandora. It made his heart break to see the pain in her eyes. He found he couldn't say anymore.

"That actually makes a lot of sense." Dark Magician Girl added, noticing Yugi's failing words. "I don't know if someone told you this Gandora, but that wishing well is very mean. It wants to hurt you with your own wish. Even if it was a nice wishing well, it can't bring back the dead."

Gandora's arms fell limply to her side, her eyes growing wide in betrayal. She then shook her head and tried to save face by snarling at the other monsters in the room. "No, you're wrong. You're all wrong!" She shouted. Yugi pulled his blankets closer to him. "Yugi is my hatchling! I wished him back! I didn't fail my child!" Her eyes landed on the curled up Yugi as he refused to make eye contact with her. Dark Magician Girl and Blue-Eyes then stepped forward to block her path to him. "I didn't fail you… I brought you back…" she croaked.

"The wishing well had no intentions to bring your hatchling back," Blue-Eyes stated. "Stop trying to pull this boy down with you."

Gandora stood stunned, her mouth opening to say some cutting retort, but nothing came.

"I'm sorry, Gandora. You are in no way, my mother." Yugi murmured into his blankets, deciding to leave no doubt in her mind. They needed to be able to move past this together.

It was like lightning had struck Gandora. She stiffened as pure agony seemed to consume every one of her cells. She completely withered before the group, somehow growing smaller as the last of her hopes shattered.

"Gandora, that does mean we-" Yugi began to say

"**STOP IT!**" Gandora cried, putting her hands to her head and shaking as if she could somehow make everyone disappear. "**WHY CAN'T YOU-!** WHY CAN'T I-!" Gandora then briefly made eye contact with Yugi, both their hearts shattering at that moment. "Why… why can't… Why do I fail everyone?"

Yugi wanted to leap from the bed then and run to her side. He couldn't stand to see her so hurt. But as he tried, he found a sudden weight on every one of his limbs. He noticed a faint pink glow about him. Dark Magician Girl was magically holding him down. Yugi then lost sight of Gandora as Blue-Eyes took another protective step in front of the bed. Yugi could only hear the anguished roar of Gandora as it shook the room. She then turned and ran.

"Gandora wait!" Yugi shouted as he fought. "Let me out!" His wiggling only made the magic stronger as he was forced into a stiff laying position.

"You can't leave in your condition." Dark Magician Girl said, all while she tried to hide her tears.

"But Gandora needs-"

"She needs to be alone." Blue-Eyes cut in before Yugi could argue. "You'd only hurt her more at the moment. When you two are both better, that is the time to reconnect."

Yugi glared at Blue-Eyes but finally sighed. While he didn't agree with anyone in this room, he couldn't fight them. He could only stare at the ceiling as he heard the anguished, growing distant, roars of a heart-broken mother.


	20. Never Too Old

Yami gasped as he sat up, throwing off his covers in a desperate attempt to somehow reach her. To let her know he was still here for her. Then Yami paused, who was her? He could only shake his head as the distant, anguished dragon roars disappeared from his memory. He then sighed as he noticed he was in Yugi's room. The morning light was barely trickling in from the window. Dark Magician was gone, but that didn't worry Yami too much. The spirit came and went as he pleased. If things got desperate Yami knew he could summon the magician with his card and he would appear immediately.

"Pharaoh?" Yami jumped as he turned to see Grandpa walk into Yugi's room. His brows were furrowed, one hand holding a glass of water and the other held out like Yami was about to run from him. "Are you ok?" he asked, his voice low and gentle. Yami couldn't help but give a small smile.

"I'm fine, Grandpa." He answered. Grandpa didn't look convinced.

"You were having quite the nightmare. Are you sure you're fine?" Grandpa asked.

Yami then noticed Junior peeking around Yugi's door. Once Junior realized Yami saw him, he pulled away. He passed by the door while carrying a chair and disappeared down the hallway. Grandpa also glanced back but only saw the empty doorway.

"Junior was the one that got me…." Grandpa whispered as he stood by Yami's bedside. "You were whimpering the name Gandora."

Yami smile immediately disappeared. "Oh…" He then looked away from the door and towards the window. His eyebrows bunched as he tried to catch the fleeting tails of his dream. In the end, they all slipped away from him. "I'll be honest. I couldn't tell you what was bothering me."

"Hmm." Grandpa studied Yami for a few moments, then handed him the glass of water. Yami took it and greedily gulped it down.

"Did you talk to Junior last night?" Grandpa asked. Yami silently nodded after putting down the glass. "And I'm guessing he knows about you now?"

"Yes," Yami answered. "I know we were going to tell him together but it just kind of came out."

"Oh, that's just fine, my boy." Grandpa smiled as he patted Yami's shoulder. "Since my son's still here, I think he took it well. That just leaves my daughter-in-law."

Yami nodded and stepped off the bed. For a moment, it felt like carbonated soda filled his head as he fully stood up. His shock must have been evident because Grandpa put his arms out as if to catch him. The pharaoh quickly got control of himself and rubbed his face. He was still exhausted from last night, he also had a new headache to boot, but at least he could stay awake. He decided to be thankful for that as he looked around Yugi's room. He didn't remember making it here after the gas station. In his glance through the room, he noticed Yugi's accessories stacked on a nearby table and chair. Grandpa saw the surprise on his face as he looked at the pile.

"Junior hasn't quite told me what happened last night. I guess you two went on an outing?" Grandpa asked as Yami went to his pile of accessories.

"Yes, it was a bonding experience," Yami answered dryly, not saying anything more even as Grandpa waited for him to speak. Once Granpa realized Yami wouldn't fill the silence, he only sighed.

"How do we go about telling Yui?" Yami asked as he lifted one of Yugi's chokers.

Grandpa closed his eyes as he put his hand to his chin. "Good question. If I remember right, you tried to tell her once before. She didn't take it well?" Yami shook his head. "That would make sense. I'm sure you've noticed, but Yui can be a bit, overprotective towards Yugi. Especially when it comes to his physical and mental health."

"She wants to be proactive in case he inherited her diseases… or mine." Both turned to see Junior leaned up against the door. He had dark bags under his eyes, yet his mild smile remained. He then turned to Yami and asked. "Did you get any sleep?"

"Yes. I feel much better from last night." Yami lied. Junior studied him for a few moments, looking so much like Grandpa as he did so, then he sighed.

"Either your good at hiding lies in your words, or I'm getting rusty. Because you look like a wreck." Junior said as he crossed his arms.

"Or I'm telling the truth," Yami said as he also crossed his arms.

"True, true," Junior sighed. He then looked back to Grandpa.

"Explaining things to Yui is today's priority, and I'd like for us to strategize beforehand. We don't want her chucking all three of us in a mental hospital because we couldn't get our story straight." He slightly chuckled. "But before that, Yami and I have to head down to the police station. I want to leave immediately for that. Err, as soon as you feel ready for it." He quickly restated to Yami.

"Why do you have to go down to the police station?" Grandpa asked. There was no surprise or anger in his voice. There was almost a fatherly exasperation to his tone as he looked to Junior.

"Things didn't quite go to plan last night," Junior stated, his face conveying no emotion. Grandpa then turned to Yami for more information.

Yami only shrugged. "Nothing too bad happened."

"Ok… Well then, I'm coming with you two. We can talk on the way about what to do about Yui." Grandpa stated. Both Yami and Junior glanced to each other, but they both knew they were in no state to try and stop the stubborn man.

"Honey? Solomon?!" Yui's voice came from down the hall. She sounded panicked.

Junior and Grandpa immediately headed out, and Yami tried to follow. The keyword being tried. His head immediately bounced off something hard and invisible by the doorway. Yami cringed as he rubbed his forehead, his headache becoming worse. He then reached out and found even his hands couldn't get past this barrier. He looked around the room for any explanation. Then he noticed the bed's small side table. There, carefully laid out was the Millennium Puzzle.

'So even when it's just me in the body, I still can't get five feet from the puzzle.' Yami thought as he went back and put on the stone item. Having it again on his person made him feel instantly better. While he was still tired, it wasn't as severe as before. It now felt like he got a few hours of sleep. The headache though chose to remain as throbbing as it was previously.

Yami wished he knew more about mortal bodies at that point. Was this pain from his overuse of magic, or his lack of sleep? Maybe it was the lack of food yesterday, after lunch, he did only have a slushie. The image of the purple slushie crushed in the two robbers' faces suddenly flashed in Yami's mind. His heart rate raised for a moment. Yami then gritted his teeth and buried the memory. This was not the time to dwell on that. He strode out of his room, determined to face the day with his usual regality.

Yami peaked his head out to see Yui come out of her room at the same time. She was worriedly looking side to side until she saw Junior heading her way. Her smile grew wide as she ran to him. Junior was taken by surprise as Yui tackle-hugged him with what little strength her body had.

"Oh, you're still here!" She breathed a sigh of relief. Junior grimaced briefly before bending down to kiss her.

"Yep, I'm staying a whole week remember?" He said with a smile as he held her close. Yui grinned back with probably the biggest smile Yami had ever seen on her face.

"I haven't forgotten, I was just a little worried that maybe you forgot." She said while playfully poking his chest. She then noticed Junior's clothes. "You sure got up early if you're already dressed." She then looked up and saw Yami's wrinkled clothing. "You too, Yugi…" Her eyes narrowed as she glanced to her husband. "Did you two get any sleep last night?"

"They went on a late-night bonding exercise," Grandpa added with a sly smile.

"Oh?" Yui asked, genuine surprise on her face. Then her eyes widened as she looked over Yami's clothes. "What is that red splatter? Were you bleeding?!"

Yami glanced down to see that the cherry slushie from last night had stained the front of his shirt. Yami then noticed Junior's grape dyed clothes from the other, more lifesaving, slushie explosion. Their tired expressions plus their dyed and wrinkled clothes made them look like zombies that just survived a paintball war.

"Yeah, about that," Junior said as he tugged on his newly purple collar. "Hey, Yam-er-Yugi. Do you mind getting dressed, so we're ready to go? I'll explain the details of our adventure to these two."

Yami nodded and turned away as quick as he could, thankful that Junior would be the one to talk to the others and not him. While Yami was positive he was past what happened last night, he was just too tired to explain it all.

Yami just about ran to Yugi's room. He opened the closet and was almost buried by a mound of unorganized fabrics. The closest thing to order was that shirts and similar items were on hangers, but that was it. Yami looked on with no clue on what to grab. Even with existing in Yugi's mind for a few years now, Yami had never needed to choose his clothes, not once. While he had an idea of what Yugi's style was, he had no idea how to put it together in a cohesive way.

'Did this go with this shirt or did it go with that?' Yami frantically thought as he gawked at the new monster in front of him.

"You did WHAT?! With Yugi right THERE?!" Yui's shouts got through Yugi's closed door and made Yami cringe. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Yami grabbed Yugi's old school uniform and the accessories he wore yesterday. He then made a break for the bathroom. He passed Junior as both Mutos were grilling him. Yami gave him a sympathetic smile before running for it and closing the bathroom door behind him.

Yami at first sighed as he slid down the door, finally in a part of the house where it was quiet. Then he looked around the small room, a frown returning to his face.

'Ok… how do I get ready?' Yami thought. The bathroom was one place he never followed Yugi into. Yugi would usually open the door for him later in the morning so the two could talk. Yami got to witness the brushing of hair and teeth, putting on weird acne stuff and then applying makeup. Before that process Yami knew a shower took place, but that wasn't something he understood the details of. He did know, however, that he needed one after running around in the humid summer heat yesterday.

Yami hung the school uniform on the door handle and slowly turned to the shower. It seemed simple enough, a basin that had two faucets, a lower one for baths and a higher one for showers. The real thing that worried Yami was the handle. When his friends had stayed in a hotel in California, he heard the group joke that no one could figure out how new shower handles worked. Yami found it much less funny now.

Yami reached up and started rubbing his temples, his headache now pounding.

'Don't think of it as alien technology. It's just a puzzle, a puzzle that can be solved.' Yami told himself as he looked over the handle.

It was an elephant trunk-like metal tube that was pointed down. Beside it was a color strip that circled the handle, going from blue to red. Yami took the handle and twisted it around towards the red end. As he guessed, water came out of the lower faucet. 'Great, now how do I get it to go to the shower head?' Yami looked frantically around the bathroom, there was no other handle or lever to pull. He knew to let the water run for long was expensive, so he thought about just crouching down and cleaning off with the lower faucet. He then shook his head and determinedly studied the handle again, even stepping into the bathtub to get a better picture of the contraption. The great Pharaoh would not be defeated like this!

Yami started pushing the handle back and forth, wondering if it had to be in some specific place. All that did was change the temperature. Yami grumbled and in his frustration, pulled the handle towards him. There was a deep gurgle, then, victory! The stream of water somehow went from the lower faucet to the showerhead. Yami would have been prouder of his victory if he hadn't been crouched in the bath still clothed. He let out a very un-kinglike yelp and leaped from the steaming water. He then forgot to close the curtains behind him, letting water splash everywhere. Yami growled as he yanked the plastic sheets. The modern water seemed finally under control as it patted against the plastic. Yami sighed and turned to the hanging towels to clean up the puddle, only for him to then slip. Thankfully his head avoided injury, but his rear wasn't so lucky.

"Gah!"

This example of kingly grace was followed by a light knock at the door. "Are you ok in there?" Grandpa asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Yami huffed as he stood up. He then threw one of the towels on the spill and kicked the sheet around until the floor was relatively dry.

"It doesn't sound like it."

"Well, I am!" Yami snapped. Grandpa didn't say anymore, but Yami saw as his shadow remained by the door. After a few moments, he walked away.

'Great, now I'm yelling at people." Yami thought as he sighed. He could only suck it up as he unclothed and got in the shower.

After Yami got control of the cursed modern water, the rest of getting ready was more manageable. He quickly figured out which bottles in the shower were for him. There were only two choices for males in the end, strange since there were about ten different bottles in the shower. Yami wondered what Yui needed with so many shower products, but decided that mystery would be for another day.

As Yami stood in the warm water, he felt as his headache started to ebb away. He almost felt comfortable, until a sudden memory of the gun pointed straight at his head flashed by. Yami's knuckles turned white as his hands gripped into fists.

He was fine.

He was fine.

He had dealt with many worse situations. Last night was nothing compared to the games he had played in the past. With what he had already done to keep the world from ending, it was insignificant. No one was even cursed or maimed this time. He shouldn't even bother thinking about it anymore.

The pure terror in Fuwa's and Trudge's faces burned through his thoughts.

Yami placed both hands on the wall as he leaned forward, letting the water roll off his back. The great Pharaoh was fine. He was just alone without Yugi, in a body that ached, and still, still... scared. Yami then gritted his teeth and shut off the water.

He wasn't scared. What would he even be scared of? Junior certainly wasn't a threat. The robbers' had no chance of getting out, and even if they did, they couldn't do much against him. It wasn't like Trudge or Fuwa was going to come back for revenge or anything like that. He wasn't scared.

Then why couldn't he stop these intruding images from making his heart race?

As Yami dried himself off, his gaze landed on the Millenium Puzzle again. His eyes lit as he realized the answer — Shadow magic. Without the Millenium Items, use of shadow magic was said to drive people insane. That's what was wrong with him. Since the puzzle wasn't right, along with draining him, his use of shadow magic must have made him more easily unnerved. It was such a simple explanation, Yami wasn't actually scared. He was fine.

Once Yami got outside the shower, even with his self assurances, things weren't much better. Yugi's zipper felt the need to grab every bit of fabric it could reach. The hairbrush had to be pulled with all of Yami's might just to get through his tangled mess. It was only another knock on the door that stopped Yami from throwing Yugi's eyeliner and mascara across the bathroom.

"Yugi? Are you dressed enough for me to grab my morning pills?" Yui's voice came from outside.

"Yes. Sorry, I forgot to open the door." Yami said as he quickly threw all his used makeup removing wipes in the trash under the sink.

Yui opened the door and walked right to Yami's side. She smiled at him as she pulled the side-mirror open and grabbed several plastic bottles. Yami could tell she was forcing her smile. Her worry for him clear on her face. Yami kept his mouth shut as he returned his gaze to the mirror, avoiding anymore eye contact.

Yami decided to try one more time to work out this makeup thing before he gave up. He had seen Yugi do it a million times.

'It shouldn't be that hard, right?' He thought as he tried once more to swipe on the black felt pen. Once he felt safe to open his eye, he looked back in the mirror to see this was his best attempt at eyeliner so far. He was ready to try the next eye when Yui looked over.

"Your eyeliner is a bit crooked. You might want to fix it before you go out." Yui smiled.

"That's it. I'm done." Yami growled as he snapped the pen close and took out another wipe. He rubbed his eyelids red and tossed the wipe under the sink.

"Oh dear," Yui whispered when she saw the mound of removing wipes. She then turned to Yami, who immediately looked away from her gaze. "Your father said to let you explain it in your own time but… Are you ok, honey? You can talk to me about it if you need. What happened last night would have been terrifying for anyone."

"I'm fine," Yami flatly said as he started to put away Yugi's makeup bag. He was about to close the cabinet when Yui stopped him.

"Here, let me try. I can at least get your eye makeup right." Yui said as she pulled out the bag again.

"There's no need," Yami said while heading for the door.

"It's really nothing Yugi. Remember, I've been putting on makeup longer then you've been alive. I can deal with a little eyeliner, even with one hand in a cast." She said as she pulled out the pen and mascara again. Yami sighed but decided it was better than nothing. He turned back to her and nodded.

"Ok, just come here…" She then tilted his chin up with her cast covered hand as she worked with her other hand. As she applied the makeup, Yami couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. He was grown… well, Yugi was the grown man, but still. He shouldn't have needed to ask for Yui's help. He just wanted this over with. His displeasure must have been apparent on his face because Yui tutted.

"Come now, Yugi. There's no need to be so flustered. Everyone needs a little help sometimes." She cooed as worked. Once she was happy with what she had done, she clicked the mascara's top on with a satisfied nod. "It's not much, but it should get you through the day."

Yami turned back to the mirror and paused. It was leagues better than his attempts. She even added more of a wing than Yugi was brave enough to do. He looked good.

"Thank you." Yami breathed. For the first time that day, he grinned.

"Oh, there's my handsome son." Yui smiled as she surrounded him in a close hug. Yami stiffened for a moment before he realized what Yui was doing. She then rested her head on top of his. "Remember, even when you're as wrinkly as Grandpa, you're never too old to ask for help from mom. Got that?" She chirped as she squeezed Yami tighter. "I will fight tooth and nail for you, even if I don't always understand what you're going through. So, if you need something, be it be someone to talk to or eyeliner help, or even just a hug, I will always be here." She said with such sincerity that Yami had no choice but to believe her.

Yami was frozen. He felt as his fatigue dampened emotions suddenly woke up. It was the tiniest of things, but, Yami realized he had never been hugged like this before. Yugi was the one that got the hugs from their friends. Yugi had tried to hug him before, but in their mind room, physical touch didn't work the same as in a physical body. Yami supposed he had once hugged Leon von Schroeder, but that was for the confused boy's own comfort, not Yami's. This hug had been nothing but unconditionally warm and loving. Then Yui's smiling face lit up the rest of Yami's grey morning. Looking at her, Yami saw so many similarities to Yugi he didn't notice before. While Yugi did take mostly after the male side of the family, he had Yui's wide-rounded eyes, her face shape, and her pink-toned hair. Even her pastel purple eyes shone with the same kind light as Yugi's. Yugi really did look like her… Yami looked like her.

"I understand you have to get to the police station so- Oh." Being a brave pharaoh went out the window. Yui started to pull away when Yami threw himself into another hug, burying himself in her arms. Yui didn't question it; she immediately wrapped him in a full-body hug and held him close. No words passing between the two. Yami couldn't help but shiver as he felt his fears melt. Yui felt the small quiver and moved her hand up to start rubbing the back of his head. Everything, from the harrowing night before, to the ever-encroaching loneliness, to even the stupid shower, every hidden pain disappeared, even if it was just for that moment.

It was great to collapse onto someone, no judgment or explanations needed. Yami felt it wasn't the same as with his friends or even with Yugi, though they loved him dearly. Be it with Yami Marik after Joey was knocked out, or when Yugi was stolen from him the first time, Yami had to be the Pharaoh around them. His friends did try to encourage him, but there was always that concerned edge to their voices as they tried to get him back in the fighting spirit. He couldn't just sit in an embrace of a hug. Yui didn't speak, didn't try to pump him up for more dueling or try to remind him of his destiny. Yami hugged tighter as he wished he could have this all the time. He wanted a family. Gods, he just wanted a _mom_.

"Are we ready to go-?" Junior asked as he turned the corner. He then shut his mouth, spun 180 degrees, and walked away. Though Junior had left them alone, Yami reluctantly pulled out of the hug. Much to the sinking of his heart he had to remind himself Yui didn't love him, she loved Yugi. It also must have been weird for Junior to see his wife tricked into hugging a complete stranger.

Yui studied Yami's face, though she kept her smile Yami could tell she was still worried for him.

"Thank you. I can't tell you how much I needed that." Yami whispered as he started to leave the bathroom.

"Yugi, wait," Yui said as she put her hand on Yami's shoulder. Yami looked back to her and saw as her eyes dart back and forth as she thought of what to say. Eventually, she took her hand off his shoulder.

"Whoopsie, I messed up your eyes. Let me fix that real quick." She said as she pulled out the pen again. Yami blinked in surprise and looked to the mirror. Sure enough, he had pushed his face into her too hard. He had smudged her work; He had even left a dark patch on her pajamas. She didn't mention that fact and instead took Yami's face back in her hand. Yami happily let her this time. As she started, Yami found a new determination in him.

The Pharaoh had always wanted his memories. He wanted them bad. He wished to understand more about himself, to know he wasn't always some time forgotten ghost. To know at one time, he really did have something that was all his own, not shared with Yugi. Now though, he also had a burning need to know his family. Even if they weren't in his life. Even if his real family turned out to be not biological, Yami had to remember them. He needed to know for absolute certainty that at one point, he was loved like this.

**A/N: Alternate chapter title "Yami and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. He's Moving to Australia and Mom's Coming With."**


	21. Spellbound Silent

"I'm a horrible friend!" Yugi groaned as he covered his face. It had been about a day since Gandora ran from the castle. Yugi was forced to remain in his bed when he knew a friend was in pain. What's worse, it was a pain he caused. All-day, he had nothing to do but stew over that conversation, running it through his head over and over again. Dark Magician Girl had to work on the reconstruction of the land, so the only sympathetic ear to his woes was Blue-Eyes.

"I should have started by reminding her how much I care for her. Then once I told her the truth, I should have immediately followed that up by telling her I still want to be her friend, just not a replacement son! That's not healthy for anyone."

"You said all the right things," Blue-Eyes repeated for about the fourth time in Yugi's ramblings. While she didn't mind repeating it for Yugi's sake, she had other things to focus on. At her feet were various papers she was reading and rearranging as Yugi guilted himself in circles. "She needed the truth to be shoved in her face for her to accept it. Like ripping off a band-aid. Anything less and she would have ignored you and kept being a nuisance to everyone."

"There's telling her the truth, and there's being too harsh. I think we went into the too harsh zone. You certainly didn't help by slowly backing her out of the room like she wasn't welcome." Yugi murmured.

"Well, she was not welcome. She could have hurt you in her blind pain."

Yugi turned over and continued to squirm in his bed, eventually throwing off the covers in his frustration. "I have to get out of this bed, out of this room. I need to walk or something. I'm going to go insane!"

"Not yet little one. We would usually let you go by now, but for some reason, your body has slowed down its repair process." Yugi rubbed his forehead as the growing headache he had picked up yesterday throbbed a little harder. Neither the healing bed nor Mystic Elf's magic could make it go away.

"This headache is nothing. I just need some ibuprofen." Yugi sighed.

"Maybe, but since we don't have that kind of human magic here, we will err on the side of caution. We are not sending you back to the human world with anything more than love from us." Blue-Eyes cooed as she patted his head. Once she returned to her work, Yugi buried his face in his pillow. He laid like that for a few minutes until he couldn't force himself to remain still anymore.

"What are you doing anyway?" Yugi asked as he peeked over the bed at her papers, wondering how she read such tiny handwriting.

"This is the guard routes Dark Magician Girl has for the palace. They are… very sloppy. Dark Magician Girl was trying, but most overlap too much or don't cover certain spaces. Good thing I came around to help give suggestions. After I organize this, I will move onto the groundskeeping." Blue-Eyes hummed as she managed to write something down with a quill-pen she wrapped her tail around. She even had amazing cursive hand-writing, or tail-writing Yugi guessed.

"You don't have to stay here if you don't want to. I'm sure there's a better place you can put those papers for your neck." Yugi tried. Blue-Eyes kept looking down at her stack of neat papers, but she did stretch out her wing and gently pat Yugi's head again.

"And leave you alone? Nohoho." She laughed.

"I'm fine alone. It's not like I'm going to hurt myself somehow." Yugi sighed.

"Oh, you will. On your own, even with this castle crawling with monsters, you'll find a way to sneak off and go marching towards the Gandora or the Silents. When the time comes, I will happily stand by your side as you fight whoever you think deserves it the most, but not until you are healed completely."

Yugi grumbled and sat up. He decided to pick up the covers from the floor and remake his bed (all without stepping off the bed because "somehow" that would ruin his healing process). While he was thankful that he wasn't forcefully held down any more, he still felt like a princess trapped in a tower of blankets by a great dragon.

"You would make for an adorable princess." Blue-Eyes chuckled at his thoughts.

"Thanks." Yugi murmured. After he flattened everything out, he laid quietly on top of his bed. His mind's bored static was then interrupted by sets of moving footsteps coming up the hall. Blue-Eyes hadn't noticed, so he sat up and looked towards the door to the hallway. He blinked in surprise when floating letters appear in the doorway. They were a light blue color and flickered like an old TV, even occasionally blinking out of existence before reappearing.

"Your magician in shinning robes is here to save you then, princess." The words said. A smile crept along Yugi's face, but then he glanced back to Blue-Eyes. He tried to keep his mind from running with excitement. In slow movements, he slipped under the covers and placed his head on the pillow facing away from Blue-Eyes. He then closed his eyes and tried to quiet his mind. He was about to fall asleep. He was about to fall asleep. He was absolutely about to fall asleep.

"Uhh, Blue-Eyes White Dragon? Ma'am?" Blue-Eyes sat up as a green-skinned goblin walked into the room. Behind him came a small force of similar monsters. They were all awkwardly standing around, fiddling slightly with their hands and armor.

"Yes? Has Dark Magician Girl called me?" Blue-Eyes asked.

"No, ma'am. We-we, uhh..."

"We were wondering if you would grace us with your knowledge." Another goblin blurted out. The rest of the group nodded and readily agreed.

Blue-Eyes's wings stretched out slightly as her chin raised. "Oh? Why would you need knowledge from little ole me?"

"You're far from little and old ma'am! We know you have seen much in your time in our and other dimensions. We were wondering if you'd bless us with some of that wisdom."

"Yeah! Us goblins are not always the smartest, and that makes us fearful. Enough that we lose our strength at the end of every battle! We want to understand more about the world. So please! Teach us!" Other goblin pleas followed this. All made Blue-Eyes stick her chest out more and more.

"Well, of course, I have time. You do not need to beg like that. I always have wisdom to share." Blue-Eyes smiled as she stood up. All the goblins sat down on the floor like the good students they were as she started pontificating about various monster politics. Yugi then noticed that all the goblins came equipped with pillows to sit on and small games they hid from Blue-Eyes's gaze. One goblin even looked Yugi's way when he was peeking out from under the covers.

The goblin that saw him mouthed. "Good luck, Pharaoh." Then turned back to a game of tic-tac-toe he was playing on his buddy's back.

Yugi smiled at the goblin and then looked to the hall to see Silent Magician hiding nearby. She was back in her small form and seemed to have no wounds or bandages on her. Yugi grinned wide as she waved to him. He then slowly crept from his bed, fluffing up his pillows and hiding them under his covers.

When Yugi first put weight on his legs again, he feared for a moment that they wouldn't hold him up. When he stumbled forward, he cringed fearing Blue-Eyes would notice him. Thankfully, she was more interested in explaining why the Legendary Knights were the best guards, even if they were banished on multiple occasions. Silent poked her head around the doorway and saw Yugi's lack of coordination. She quietly cheered him on as he focused on his next steps, even using her magic to make an image of a thumbs up. This gave Yugi the rush to keep tiptoeing. The goblins kept Blue-Eyes's attention with random questions as Yugi slinked across the room and eventually, jumped around the corner. Silent Magician gestured for him to follow her as she started running down the hallway. Yugi happily followed his legs beginning to keep up with his body.

"That was awesome." Yugi smiled to Silent as they raced down the hall. "How did you know I needed out?"

"Truth is I've wanted to talk to you ever since you woke up, but I needed to talk to only you. With Blue-Eyes White Dragon or Dark Magician Girl always hovering around, I realized I would need to bust you out. We should really thank the Goblin Attack Force later. They are the ones really sacrificing themselves here."

"I will honor their sacrifice. Though, I hope you didn't lie to them by saying they were saving the Nameless Pharaoh. While the confusion was useful on our trip up the mountain, I don't want to be something I'm not to these kinder monsters. I'm just Yugi."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Most monsters here know by now who you are. They continue to call you Pharaoh out of respect. You did help save monster-kind just as many times as the nameless Pharoah." Silent smiled.

"That's good." Yugi sighed, relieved that at least here, he wouldn't be continuously confused for the pharaoh. 'Not that I mind.' Yugi quickly thought to himself, a ping of guilt pricking him.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Yugi asked to get his thoughts on a different subject.

"About… The trip up the mountain, and… What is up with the other Silents and me." Her words slowly appeared.

"Oh," Yugi whispered. Before he could say more another sentence flashed immediately with Silent smiling.

"Save the sadness for later. First, I have to get you to a place where we won't be interrupted. Annoyingly, the only place I believe we can have privacy is across the castle, but we shouldn't get caught along the way, as long as you stick with me." Silent wrote as she had Yugi follow her down a secret passage behind a painting.

As the two snuck along, Yugi stopped dead in his tracks. He looked back towards his room as he rubbed his hand through his hair. "Wait, Blue-Eyes can read my mind. Though I tried to act like I was sleeping earlier, my thoughts will eventually give us away."

"She can?!" Silent skidded to a stop and turned back to Yugi. Her eyes then landed on the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. "Right, spirit partner. She explained her connection to you when I first woke up. Well, I guess you'll have to keep your thoughts below surface level." She soundlessly sighed.

"But how do I do that? Blue-Eyes seems to be able to do it since I can never read her thoughts." Yugi asked as he crossed his arms.

"Oh, how to describe it for a human…?" Silent put her finger to her chin as she looked over Yugi. "Think of it like… putting a blanket over your thoughts or whispering them."

Yugi's mouth stretched into a thin line. "I have to what now?"

"Here let's try this." Silent said as she put her hand on his forehead and blue light began to glow between the two. This magic flickered, just like her words. "You have to hold still for this and willingly let me in your head… Ok… Think of something weird, something I wouldn't think of."

'Uh, Tacos.' Yugi thought.

"I heard that whatever 'tacos' are. Now try covering it." Yugi did his best mental gymnastics as Silent continued to coach him. They stayed like this for a few minutes until Silent no longer heard the word Tacos. She instead tasted something spicy on the tip of her tongue.

"Close enough." Silent eventually wrote, sticking her tongue out a bit. "If Blue-Eyes White Dragon listens in, she'll simply think you're dreaming if you keep it up like that."

"Ok, thanks." Yugi nodded as he did his best to keep his thoughts hidden. It honestly wasn't that hard, just a bit annoying. He was sure he could keep it up for a long while.

The narrow secret passage ended, and after looking ahead, Silent had Yugi run alongside her in the open hallways. As they ran, Yugi looked around the castle's halls. The place was out of a storybook with its shining white walls and beautiful hanging art. Most were of duel monsters in various strange styles that Yugi needed an art degree to be able to pick out. He also noticed how everything, walls, floor space, even windows, were much bigger than the human castles from his dimension — leaving the halls feeling a little empty, even with the great art and statues covered in exotic armor. This emptiness, plus the inhuman perfection over everything made Yugi's neck hair stick straight up again. Yugi thought he was getting used to it, but this world just loved to give him new ways to be unnerved. The large looming, white halls combined the sterile environment of a hospital and the uncanniness of an old black-and-white cartoon.

As Yugi then tried to keep his mind off the strangeness of it all, he noticed an absence of something he had been expecting.

"Did Gandora not destroy anything on her way out?" Yugi whispered to himself. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and look to see Silent raising an eyebrow. "Did you hear about Gandora? About how I had to break it to her that she wasn't actually my mother?" Yugi asked, his voice lowering. Silent slowly nodded.

"I had. I was even there as she made her mad dash out of the castle. While she wasn't very coordinated on the way out, she did her best not to step on anyone or destroy anything. It was a very good attempt on her part too." Silent wrote with a sad frown. Yugi felt the now familiar sinking of his heart as he remembered Gandora's last agonized cries.

"Do you know where she is now?" Yugi asked.

Silent looked away from Yugi as the two continued to run. She was about to write something when she suddenly jumped behind a corner and yanked Yugi behind her when he didn't immediately follow. Yugi then noticed that they were hiding from a small group of monsters as they walked down the same hall they came from. The monsters didn't see them and moved on, hurridly chatting with each other.

"This place is mostly filled with refugees. If any saw you, they'd most likely mob you. It's why your hospital room is so far away from the center of the castle." Silent wrote as she put her finger to her lips. Yugi nodded and didn't speak.

"I would love to take you to Gandora, but I can't right now. She is somewhere outside the castle, and I don't think I could get you out without being caught. I feel horrible for her too. I even tried to visit her. She… was not interested in seeing me, putting it mildly." Silent wrote, and she started to lead Yugi again. He could only sigh as he followed.

After a few more close calls, Yugi began to wonder when they would get to this place Silent set aside when her words suddenly appeared in front of his face. She turned away from him as she wrote.

"I am sorry."

"What? Why?" Yugi whispered.

"For the whole wishing well thing. You'd think since I grew up in this land, I'd know of an evil wishing well. But I didn't and I nearly-" Yugi immediately began waving his hand in her words, causing the incoming letters to dissipate in showers of glitter.

"Don't you start too. In my mind, it was no one's fault, and no one should feel guilty. We all made the decision, and it was for an excellent reason, to end things with minimal fighting. We should just be glad no one was monkey pawed into the shadow realm or something."

Silent looked to Yugi with at first surprise that then turned to confusion, especially at the mention of a monkey paw. She lifted her finger to summon more words but then shrugged. A small smile returned to her face.

"I can get behind that. We still have so many things to talk on, so if you're willing to move on, so am I." She wrote. Yugi nodded to her, and her smile grew wider. "It's funny, though. I've lived here almost my entire life, and the most I heard about that well was that it was such a pain to make a wish on, that no one made the trek. Not that it was particularly malicious." She shrugged.

"Huh, well, at least we know now?" Yugi tried. He just wanted to get off the topic of the well, so he asked, "Have you always been in this domain?"

"For the most part. The Silent temple where all Silent archetype monsters are reborn is in this domain. My childhood friend and I used to cause so much trouble for Dark Magician Girl when we were growing up in this castle. You should have seen some of the things we tried to pull off." She wrote with a soundless giggle. While Yugi was glad to see her in a light-hearted mood, he found his smile lost some of its strength when her "childhood" friend was brought up. Silent soon caught his unease and lost her smile too. They became quiet until Silent suddenly ducked into a side room.

"Stay. I need to check to make sure the coast is clear." The words became a wall that blocked Yugi from entering. Yugi looked around the empty hall and felt exposed. He then noticed two armor stands by the archway into the room and quickly crouched behind one. The room Silent ran in to had no door. Instead, it had a massive archway decorated in golden vines with magenta and black roses. Inside Yugi could only see silhouettes of either shelves or maybe other monsters. He couldn't spot much else, thanks to the room being incredibly dark. He crouched awkwardly, not knowing what else to do when more words appeared.

"Go ahead, ask it. I could see it in your face earlier." The light blue letters appeared. Yugi paused, unsure of how to order his words before sighing.

"That Silent Swordsman we met on the mountain, he was your childhood friend, wasn't he?"

"Yes."

The single word came slower than any whole sentence before. Yugi felt the guilt he had regarding how he handled Gandora rear up again. This time he swore to himself he was going to get through this without one of his new friends in tears.

"You can come in now." Her words cut through the 'yes' she had up before. Turning it into falling glitter before it disappeared.

Yugi swallowed and quickly jumped from behind the armor through the high archway. Before Yugi could see into the darkness, he smelled the musty aroma of the room. It at first made him think there was going to be dust everywhere. When his eyes adjusted, he instead found he was in a large room the was meticulously cleaned. There was one primary light source other than the hallway light. It came from a grand stained glass window that took up nearly the whole back wall. It was covered in depictions of duel monster battles and miraculous feats by both human and monster. It even held the creation of the world, all on one side of a Duel Monsters card if Yugi was interpreting it right. This glass was done in deep shades of purple, blue, and green, causing the light that came into the room to be very dim.

Yugi then turned from the window to look around the room. It was about the size of the bottom floor of his house, including Grandpa's storefront. The room was large, but not spacious as it was filled to the brim with paintings, statues, and carvings. Each art piece seemed to depict humans and duel monsters alike. Some Yugi even recognized like Ironheart or Slifer the Sky Dragon. What these illustrated creatures were doing wasn't as clear cut as the window. There was a vague style to all the paintings, statues, and carvings. Almost like the work itself would vanish into the wind.

"We can hide here for a bit. If Dark Magician Girl saw you out, she would kill me." Silent's words glowed in the dark. Yugi glanced towards the letters and found no Silent Magician behind them. Instead, he noticed more light coming from the very back corner of the room. Yugi followed the glow through the maze of strange works. Each had a gravitas that Yugi couldn't describe, yet he also couldn't figure out why they were constructed and held here.

As Yugi got around a tall statue of a man with obsidian skin, red markings, and bright yellow hair, he found Silent sitting on a swinging wooden bench. She was surrounded by floating, almost fluffy orbs of azure light. They dotted the area surrounding a small gazebo with the swinging bench at its center. Looking out from the sides of the Gazebo was two human effigies Yugi didn't recognize. A male with spiky black and yellow hair, and a woman with rose-red hair. The male had his hand on the woman's shoulder as she pointed out. She seemed to be pointing to two dragons standing outside the gazebo.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Silent's words came when Yugi remained outside, marveling at the room.

"It is." Yugi breathed. "What is this place?" he asked as he walked up the wooden steps to the gazebo's center. He noticed the swing was draped with a thick blanket, probably Silent's bringing.

"I hope you don't mind hiding out in the prophecy chamber. I thought someone looking for you wouldn't duck into here." She wrote. "And even if they did, we can see the door." She then gestured to the front archway which they could see between the spikes of Slifer.

"Prophecies are made here?"

Silent shook her head. "No, they are stored here." She then gestured to the gazebo itself. "This little part was added when two of the Crimson Dragon's servants dreamed of what their next Signers would be like." Yugi raised an eyebrow in questioning as he had no idea what those names meant. When Silent noticed his confusion, she soundlessly giggled. "Right, you didn't have to be educated in prophecies as us Silents did. Just ignore me. It's not important." She then looked around the gazebo with a wistful gaze. "It was always our favorite place to hide back when we were in training."

"It really is other-worldly here, but not in an unnerving way like the rest of the land." Yugi echoed as he sat back on the swing, a sigh of relief to no longer be in the sterile halls. He kicked off slightly, and the two slowly swung. Yugi watched Silent from the side of his eye as he tried to gauge her. Her face became stone-still, no happiness or sadness as she stared out at the sea of prophecies.

"Silent, are you ok?" Yugi asked. No words appeared, but a blue glow came from the swing's chains as it was magically pushed.

"This was our hiding spot back when we were growing up. That seems so far away now." The words said. Silent finally turned to him, her eyes filled with determination and hints of pain. She looked over him, studying him, before soundlessly sighing.

"You asked for my backstory when we were traveling up the mountain, so here it is. Yes, the Silent Swordsman that tried to kidnap Gandora was the childhood friend I raved about up the mountain. But, at this point, they don't even feel like the same person." That word melted away before the next came.

Yugi sat forward in the swing and looked to Silent. He only nodded to her, letting her know in his own, silent way that he was there for her. "Only say as much as you need." Silent nodded back to him, and her words continued.

"I'll be skipping a lot so don't get lost." Silent then took in a deep breath and started writing. "My and Silent Swordsman's old lives were killed at the same time, by a dragon, I think. So, when we were reborn, we were raised together."

"Oh, I'm sorry?" Yugi said. Even with a dead spirit living with him, he still didn't know how to appropriately respond when someone told him they had already died before. Silent dismissively waved away his comment.

"It's all part of the Silent life cycle. All Silents have had hundreds of past lives none of us remember or even have a similar personality to. We are new monsters every time, only sharing ability." Silent then looked out at the two human statues closest to the swing. "But that didn't stop us from killing each other."

Yugi leaned forward just to reread the words, closer this time. There was no way he read that right. Once he had thoroughly checked his reading abilities, he looked to Silent with wide eyes.

"I don't know what it was like when Silents first took the job as guardians of the borders. It must have seemed perfect for everyone. We had exactly enough in our archetype for one Silent in every domain, we could control what level we were so we could be anywhere, and we had the power to put up barriers no matter how strong we were. In return for us taking the Knights' job while they were trapped, the lands we protected would pay us in gifts and favors for our work." Silent then leaned back on the swing, staring straight up at the wooden gazebo roof.

"As time went on, though, we became less like guardians and more like rulers. If a domain's Silent wasn't happy, they'd let the horrors of the multiverse and other domains encroach in. Also, the higher level the domain, the more they could generally pay, meaning Silents wanted only those jobs." Silent then glanced to Yugi while still facing up, a forced smile on her face that looked more like a grimace.

"A Silent once accepted in a domain, wouldn't lose their guardian role unless they died. But what is death to a race the continually reincarnates? It's not murder; it's just proving you're stronger and thus, a better protector for that domain." She wrote, her words having a slight tilt to them. "It's how every Silent thought, and how almost every Silent died. We thought we were greater beings than the monsters we protected, and we were greater than each other. I even thought like that once. It was supposed to be true strength after all."

Yugi felt as his chest tightened as he read those words. He couldn't stop a troubled frown from coming to his face either. He then looked to Silent again. She glanced to him and then turned away, that smile-grimace still plastered on her face. "When I first saw so many Silents working together, on that mountain top. Even as they attacked us, I was happier than you could understand. I know how messed up that sounds, but finally seeing my archetype working together like I always hoped we could someday…? Of course, they're still just as bad. Now they just don't kill each other." She gripped to the swing, just to right herself.

Yugi had a million thoughts, but none he could put into words. He needed to say something. But what? As he looked down, trying to think of something, his eyes landed on the Millennium Puzzle. Though his headache suddenly grew, he was able to push the pain aside as he thought of his friends back home. What would they do here? He turned back to Silent and without saying a word, opened his arms to invite her into a hug. She blinked in surprise but then threw herself into his chest.

"I can't imagine what kind of society that would have been like to grow up in. You are truly strong, Silent Magician, to be the good person you are now." Yugi whispered. He was expecting Silent to pull away, being the prideful mage she had been up the mountain, but instead, she clung tighter. Yugi then felt as tears stained his shirt. It almost seemed like he failed his first objective when talking to his friend, but these weren't unneeded tears. He knew these were bottled up long ago and finally coming out.

The glowing words then came in a flurry, some entire sentences having almost no spacing between the words as Silent sobbed into his chest. "Dark Magician Girl and the other monsters that helped raise us tried to teach us compassion and honor. With Swordsman and I raised at the same time we had something no other Silent had, a bond. Swordsman and I latched on to that originally. I wish you could have seen Silent Swordsman back in the day. He really was the perfect protector, charismatic, powerful, and incredibly kind. Sometimes I felt like a burden to him since I couldn't keep up in power, but he always assured me I was no such thing. Because we meant so much to each other."

Yugi couldn't help but bristle at that last sentence. It was an all too familiar feeling in a new context. Feeling like a burden for a more exceptional partner. Like you were only holding someone back. Thankfully his friend was still by his side, always working with Yugi until he understood he was equal to the Pharaoh. Silent Magician didn't seem to get that same happy ending. Yugi wasn't sure if he was quite ready to hear how this friendship fell. He didn't let on to that and hugged Silent tighter.

"Then we became old enough to get our own domain and join Silent society." Silent squeezed Yugi with all her strength as the next words came slow and disappeared fast. "At first, I fully jumped into that mindset of kill or be killed. It is a mindset that manages to fan egos into blazing infernos, despite being such a destructive way to live. Then I saw what it made Silentswordsman become. That sweet, brave monster slowly grew into a soldier of destruction. He had no remorse, no care for anyone. It was only him at the top. He swore he was doing these things so we could have perfect domains, together. But in the end, I knew I was nothing more than another trophy for him. Another thing he had over others, he had another Silent that didn't want him dead." Silent then stopped her words and remained pinned to him. Yugi didn't have the words he wished he could. So, he kept her close, being the rock she needed at this moment.

"It was visiting this domain and Dark Magician Girl again that made me realize how bad things were. Since this domain is for the weakest monsters, no Silent wanted to protect it. Even with other domains constantly attacking, this place still managed to be one of my happiest homes. A place where monsters didn't hurt and step on each other for the top. That's when I knew we needed out of this horrible Silent system. I thought since Silent Swordsman was so close to me, he'd understand." Silent shook her head. "Of course, he didn't, he even thought I was trying to betray him, somehow. He had gotten so paranoid he even…"

She didn't finish that sentence, and Yugi's knew he didn't want the specifics of that either.

"That's when I broke away. I decided to exile myself to the Domain of the Beasts and become it's Silent, something that would have seemed like the ultimate insult to a Silent archetype. But to me, it was a badge of honor being this place's protector. I threw myself into this job, even when the Knights came back and took most of the responsibilities. It's how I even found you. I was trying to lead the monsters stampede to the castle when the Gandora first arrived. I just want to prove the kindness and strength a true Silent could have..." Silent Magician then pulled away from Yugi, her tears done falling but her eyes still red.

"When you and the Pharaoh freed the Knights, I heard they were… very rough with the other Silents as they dethroned them. I thankfully missed out because this domain defended me. I may not be an official guardian anymore, but I still do my part." For a while she didn't speak, being deep in thought. Then she looked up at the great stained glass window. Yugi saw as her frown finally disappeared. She then stood up from the swing and turned to Yugi.

"Please, this is where I need your help. Seeing the other Silents, they may say they're trying to change, but they're going down the wrong path again, no matter how much I wish otherwise. We aren't just mercenaries or rulers. Silents are protectors. We can even protect the Gandora, even though they are digging their own graves by causing so much destruction in a land they are trying to hide in. I need to prove it to the other Silents and myself. We don't have to cause more pain just to be powerful again. I **need** to prove that."

Yugi quietly read Silent's declaration, making sure he didn't miss any of it. Silent waited for a bit, but when Yugi didn't speak, her cheeks started to turn red.

"Am I asking too much? Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about how much you must want to get home. Of course, I'll help you with that! You don't need to be part of these Duel Spirit problems-"

"Wait." Yugi once again wiped away her words. "While I do want to get home, I want you guys to be safe first." Yugi smiled as he stood up with her. "You are my friend, just as Gandora or even Dark Magician Girl. I'm not just going to abandon you midway through the adventure."

After a few seconds of shock, Silent grinned back at him. "Thank you so much!" Her smile then turned more lopsided. "Wait, I'm a... friend? We've only really known each other for a few days. When you told Gandora we were friends I thought it was to distract her. You really consider me a friend?"

"Of course! With all we have been through together I hope we would at least be that." Yugi grinned back at her. Silent paused for a moment, then she simply shook her head.

"I had heard rumors that the Pharoah's other half was kind, but you just continue to surprise me by your genuineness. I love to have you as a friend too." she wrote.

"I'm glad. You know, it's funny, the Pharoah often jokes about how I'd accept anything vaguely friend-shaped-" Yugi started to laugh before he heard a small kurri in the back of his head. While he did his best to keep his thoughts below the surface level the whole conversation, he suddenly felt as another force read... something in his mind… not his thoughts though.

"Are you ok, Yugi?" Silent asked when she saw Yugi's confused expression.

The two suddenly heard a familiar rumble. The ground began to shake, and the castle walls quivered. The two turned each other in horror.

"A Kuriboh stampede." Yugi breathed before both dove for cover. Thankfully the prophecy room was made sturdier than most, so nothing toppled over as a wave of multicolored fur coursed down the hall. It looked like it was going to skip the room before it suddenly stopped. Another kurri echoed in Yugi's mind, then the wave turned and washed into the prophecy room, somehow knocking nearly everything down yet keeping them from breaking. Silent's hiding spot was the first in the disaster's way. She seemed ready for impact, yet they went coursing around her. They instead headed straight for Yugi, a brown Kuriboh with golden jewelry awkwardly hung on their fluff leading the attack.

"Kuriboh?!" Yugi yelped before the great fluffy tsunami mobbed him. All the puffballs cheered as Yugi found himself lifted, the Kuriboh covered in jewelry hugging his chest. After the shock disappeared, Yugi grinned. "Hey, buddy. Good to see you healthy enough to find us." He laughed.

"Despite my best efforts, I still couldn't find a good enough hiding spot." Silent wrote with a sigh. Kuriboh lifted their little arms and cheered with the crowd. Suddenly Silent was grabbed and raised too.

"Woah! Are these your friends or your copies?" Silent couldn't help but laugh as she was carried to Yugi's side. The Kuribohs seemed slightly offended as they glared at her, but the bejeweled Kuriboh merely tilted their body and closed their eyes in the form of a smile. "They're your friends then." Silent corrected.

"You can bring all the friends you want, just make sure you pick up these prophecies. I'd hate for some to be lost." Yugi said. A resounding sigh answered him from the Kuribohs. They then went about picking up their mess. As they did, Yugi's eyes found themselves glued to one giant prediction as it passed by him. Silent noticed as his face grew pale and she turned too to face the giant stone slab.

"What is that?" Yugi nearly whispered. All the Kuribohs froze in their tracks as Yugi fought through the sea to better look at the prophecy.

This stone slab, taller and longer than even him, depicted three humans, each separated by a door. At the top of it was blazed the words, Duel Spirit Heroes. As Yugi stared at the figure that looked so much like him, his headache grew worse.


	22. Summary Summer

Yami grimaced. He was waiting at the end of the stairs when his headache came back with a vengeance. It wasn't a small area of pain. His entire head seemed to throb every few seconds. He tried to ignore it, but eventually, he reached up to rub his forehead — anything to make the pain go away.

"Are you ok?" Of course, Grandpa just had to come down the stairs at that moment.

"Yes, just a headache," Yami answered as he quickly put down his hand.

"Do you want some medicine before we go?"

"Medicine?" Yami asked, thinking back to the mountain of multicolored pills he had seen Yui take earlier. "I'm fine-" He started to say when another wave of pain hit him. "Will it really make it go away?"

"It will at least lessen it," Grandpa said with a tint of worry coming to his eyes. He walked towards the kitchen and had Yami follow him. He gestured for Yami to sit at the small dining table as he went to a side closet in the hall. There Grandpa pulled out a plastic pill bottle. At the same time, Junior came down the stairs. He was once again wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, despite the forecast being hotter and even more humid than yesterday. Not that Yami could comment since he was wearing Yugi's school jacket and layers of black leather.

"Something wrong?" Junior asked as he turned into the kitchen and saw the pill bottle.

"The Pharaoh has a headache," Grandpa said as he set the bottle on the table and headed for the kitchen cupboards. As Grandpa got some water, Yami stared at the bottle. He had seen Yui take these, he knew he could do it. The spirit grabbed the bottle and opened it. (He figured out the child-safety by merely reading the instructions. Not that Yami was proud or anything for opening it first try.) He then shook out his own pile of pills.

"Whoa, there champ. I'm pretty sure you only need two," Junior said as he quickly took the bottle and read the directions on the side.

"Only two? Yui needed a lot more." Yami murmured as he grabbed two pills and popped them in his mouth. He tried to swallow like he had seen earlier this morning, but it seemed like his throat suddenly decided to close. Something about the pills' weird shape and chalkiness made Yami reject the medicine, violently. Yami gagged as one rebel pill hit the top of his throat in one of his swallowing attempts. By this point, both Grandpa and Junior were by his side as he choked. It was a hard slap from Junior on Yami's back that finally got the pills out. As Yami took in some much-needed breaths, Grandpa handed him the glass of water.

"Let me guess. You have only ever seen Yui take pain meds before?" Grandpa asked with a sigh.

"Yes…" Yami quietly said, shrinking down in his chair.

"You did nothing wrong." Junior chuckled as he helped clean up the mess Yami made. "It's our fault for not explaining. Most people take pills with water to help them go down. Yui has many strange abilities, some that others would call unnatural. Swallowing pills without anything to wash them down is one of her stranger powers."

Yami glanced at the glass of water Grandpa had put in front of him. "You were getting this for me?"

Grandpa gave an embarrassed smile as he sat across from Yami. "Yes, it was my mistake for expecting you to understand right off the bat what I was doing. Please, if anything confuses you, even if it seems easy, tell us. We will happily explain it."

Yami slowly nodded as he took two more pills from the bottle and, this time, swallowed them down with some water. As he did, he had to bury his growing frustration. It seemed all so simple, yet why wasn't he getting it? Was he that useless outside of card games? Yami stared at the tablecloth, not looking at anything in particular as he took a couple more sips. What was he expecting? Sure, he hung out with Yugi and their friends as they lived their non-game related lives, but he very rarely got involved. No matter how often Yugi tried to get him to take control during peace times, Yami never felt right. It was Yugi's life he was barging into after all. That didn't leave the pharaoh with much of his own life, just wandering the twisting passages of the Millennium Puzzle in his copious amounts of spare time.

Yami suddenly felt the weight of his thousands of years of age. He felt so fragile like he would turn to dust at the smallest push. He didn't belong in this time, at least not in the state he was. Even after years of being with Yugi and their friends, he still felt like an outsider. An out-of-time spirit in an out-of-place body. He was done being a bystander. He wanted his own life.

'Not that I don't want Yugi or any of the others by my side!' Yami quickly thought, guilt now adding to his headache.

"Hey, you ok?" Junior asked. Yami blinked in surprise. There should have been nothing in his expression that tipped them to his inner fight. Yami glanced at Grandpa to see if he had accidentally emoted anything, but Grandpa seemed just as in the dark as Yami.

"The medicine hasn't worked yet. I know it's going to take some time, but I was hoping it be quicker." Yami answered. Junior didn't seem particularly convinced but shrugged.

"Well, modern medicine can only go so far, but I think you'll start feeling a little better by the time we get to the station. We ready to get going?"

"You're heading out already? No breakfast?" Yui asked as she came into the kitchen, eyeing Yami slightly. Yami quickly turned away and stared at the all-so-interesting tablecloth again.

"We want to get going as soon as possible," Grandpa answered as he got up from the table. "We'll probably get something on the way back, though. Do you need anything?"

"Not right now-" She began to cough but managed to stop a full attack from coming. "Wait. Are we still doing the barbeque at the end of the week?"

"Barbeque?" Yami asked as he looked up.

"We always have one at the end of your father's visits?" Yui asked with a raised eyebrow. The last time the family had a barbeque that Yami remembered was for Yugi's birthday. Of course, Junior hadn't been there.

The barbeque had been a fun time as Yugi's friends were invited to eat and play with the family in the park. Yami even got to join in on a water-gun fight. He had been thoroughly soaked by everyone and unable to retaliate thanks to not knowing he had to refill his gun after a few shots. That loss he could happily shrug off; it had been much too fun for him to care. After everyone dried off, they all sat together for cards and dessert as Grandpa passed around sparklers. Yami couldn't help but smile at the memory. While Yugi had been in control of the body most of the night, Yami could still remember the smoky smell of the air and how relaxed the evening had been. A life without the world ending… Part of Yami liked the idea of another barbeque; the other half worried it would get in the way of finding Yugi.

"Oh, right." Yami kept his head down as he glanced at Junior for what to say. Junior seemed to be looking to him for an answer, but when Yami said nothing, Junior quickly threw on a smile.

"Ahh, sure! We can pick up supplies for that. You know I always love the taste of your grilling skills." Junior said.

"Let me write a list real quick then," Yui said. As she started writing, Yami looked to Junior for an explanation.

"Play along for now. Hopefully, we'll have Yugi by the end of the week anyway, right?" Junior whispered as he stood up and took Yui's list.

The goal was still to get Yugi back as quickly as possible then. Yami agreed that if it took more than a week to find his partner, they would be in trouble whether or not they planned a barbeque. The fun little get together would even be right before the gang headed for Egypt.

Egypt…

When Yami thought about that far off place, he couldn't help but shiver as that old weight returned. He chose not to focus on that future too much and instead followed Grandpa out of the kitchen.

"I added more to the list than usual because Yugi said he wanted to invite his friends this time around." Yami heard Yui say in the kitchen. At this point, Grandpa had already walked out the front door, but Yami stopped in the storefront to wait for Junior.

"Right, we should be back before lunch. I'll call if anything goes wrong, which it shouldn't." Yami smiled at the indignation in Junior's voice. There was a wall that stopped him from seeing the kitchen, but he could imagine the skepticism on Yui's face. Yugi's penchant for things going wrong must run in the family. Yami started to head out, expecting Junior to follow behind. However, he stopped when he heard Junior's steps pause.

"Hey, honey? Have you…noticed anything odd with Yugi lately? Not just today, but…?" Junior trailed off. Yami froze. Was Junior trying to explain it all now? Yami swallowed hard as he leaned up against the wall to listen in. Yui didn't immediately answer. Yami wished he could see her expression. He didn't sneak a peek though, guessing Junior wouldn't have asked this question if he thought Yami was still inside.

"Other than him being sick? Well, he was a bit clingier this morning. But that would be expected after being nearly robbed at gunpoint and then seeing his father… change the situation." Yui's words became quieter, to the point of a whisper.

It felt like cold water had splashed on Yami's back. Of course, he desperately hugging her this morning would make her worry. Now Junior would be on extra alert. Yami didn't need him to think he was scared or anxious. It was a one-time thing; the Pharaoh was just fine.

"I understand that, I mean when times were normal. Did you notice him act strange? Like he wasn't the same person from one moment to the next?"

A much colder silence followed this question as Yami leaned in closer. He knew from Grandpa that Yui had her suspicions about Yugi. Now Yami understood how scary those suspicions must have been for Yugi's grandfather and mother. With Junior's mental history, Yami must have caused a great deal of worry for the two these last few years. Was that what Junior was trying to get her to admit?

"What are you talking about? Yugi's been fine, other than getting into some teenage trouble." Yui's cheery voice answered. Yami listened in for Junior's response, but none came. It seemed like a while before he heard the man sigh.

"Of course, I'm just not quite used to how much he has changed. He really has grown." Another silence. "I'll get going now. Love you. Keep your phone by you in case you have another seizure and need help."

"I'm fine Solomon. Yesterday was a fluke and nothing more. Love you too." She said with a bit of good-natured annoyance.

Yami tried to get to the front door before Junior came out of the kitchen, but he wasn't fast enough. Junior walked into the storefront, his brows furrowed and an almost shameful look on his face. When he saw Yami, he paused for a moment, but he didn't look surprised. He then looked back into the kitchen. When both heard as Yui went out the backdoor, Junior shook his head.

"I wonder how long those two were going to try and hide their suspicions." Junior quietly said as he headed over to the wall-hooks that held the car keys.

Yami gripped the chains of his necklace and said. "I don't believe they were hiding anything. I think they simply didn't know what to do. They didn't even confront Yugi with their worries."

"Yeah, why let me get involved with my own son's health? Especially when it's symptoms similar to what I've been spending more than a decade in therapy for?" Bitterness sharpening his words. Yami remained quiet, not knowing if he could say anything helpful. He merely watched as Junior stood silently, his expression unchanging. Then, the man let out a long exhale, the hardness in his face disappearing. "It was for the best. It's my fault for not noticing something sooner. Years of training, and I didn't see a thing."

Yami paused. A small part of him wanted Junior to feel guilty. It WAS his fault. If he had been around Yugi more, it would have been obvious to someone of his seeming talents that something was up. The other part of Yami knew that was a childish thought. If Junior had suspected something, it would have been more trouble to add to saving the world. While admitting he was a spirit in a late-night gas station surrounded by old enemies was definitely not the best way to tell Junior, it was much better than trying to convince the father if he firmly believed it was a mental issue. While Junior usually had been the first to back down from opposition, Yami had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn't have been so understanding if he believed his son had inherited some of his illnesses.

"I think you're putting too much responsibility on yourself-" Yami began to say before he noticed Junior's eyes widen.

"Where are the keys?!" Junior asked, nearly desperately. This was a tone Yami had never heard from the man before.

"Ah, Grandpa grabbed them." Yami stammered as he gestured outside.

"We can't let him drive, not when there's a better driver around! He's one bad eye exam from losing his license!" Junior yelped as he rushed past Yami and out the door.

Yami was too shocked at the sudden turn to follow. He stood in the closed storefront, blinking the surprise and sunlight from his eyes. He couldn't help but wonder if Junior purposefully did that to change the subject, or if he was honestly that worried? Yami thought it more likely Junior was avoiding that particular conversation, but the pharaoh's aching brain and body didn't give much space to think on that long. When Yami managed to heal enough from the whiplash, he turned to the shining outside and walked into the light.

In the small parking space beside the shop, Grandpa was leaning against the trunk of the family car as he flipped through his deck, keys in one hand.

"Oh, no you don't!" Junior then flashed by him. Grandpa blinked in surprise and turned to the front of the car to see Junior had unlocked it and was stepping into the driver's side. Grandpa then looked down at his empty hand in utter shock.

"He-Hey!" Grandpa shouted as he stuffed his deck in his pocket and ran to the front. "I believe I'm driving." He said as he held the door open.

"Nope, I rather not die today, thanks," Junior said with a Cheshire cat smile.

"With you driving, we won't get there by the time the sun goes down!" It looked like Grandpa was actually considering pulling his son out of the front seat, but Grandpa was good enough at physics. A little old man tugging on an adult two times his size did not equal an outcome in Grandpa's favor. So, he continued grumbling under his breath as he slammed the car door close and walked around to the passenger side. As he did, he noticed Yami by the shop and his undoubtedly confused face.

"Are… you two, alright?" Yami had to ask.

"Oh yes, we're fine." Grandpa immediately dropped his seeming frustration and laughed. "Who drives is an old fight between my son and I. It used to be a lot more serious when we were younger, both of us once being stubborn and proud men. Now it's nothing more than a joke." Grandpa then eyed the car. After making sure they were out of range, he leaned in and whispered to Yami. "If we were comparing best driving, Junior has had no tickets his entire life, even in other countries. Compare that to my… many little law breaks." He whispered, then he turned away and yelled. "But, my SON just never gets anywhere on time EVER!"

"Ha-ha, Suf-fer." Junior laughed as he rolled down the window. "Get in here ya sore loser. We got places to be!"

Grandpa chuckled as he walked up to the passenger side. As Yami followed, he once again found a smile coming to his face. It was small, and a little stupid, but seeing this side of the older Mutos made his day. It just seemed so, normal. An average family that loved each other even as they got on their nerves. The family Yugi grew up with to be the kind and caring boy he was. A family Yami was coming to feel somewhat close to. He couldn't help but think back to his own missing family. He hoped they could laugh at each other with no hard feelings too.

…

As the three got on the road, it became comfortably quiet for a bit. Yami enjoyed it because his headache had just started to diminish as the medicine and sunshine took effect. Yami put his cheek on the warm window and closed his eyes. 'It would be ok. They were getting things done. They could get Yugi back.'

Just then, a shadow flew over Yami's face. He opened one eye to see Red-Eyes fly overhead. The dragon didn't notice him and continued to glide past. Yami then noticed how Junior's grip on the wheel tightened, but that was the only sign Junior had even seen the dragon. He kept his eyes on the road and his face emotionless.

"That was Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The dragon doesn't stay in the city often, but he always comes when Joey or Yugi summon him." Yami said, reminding himself that Junior was just as new to duel spirits as he was to being a real boy.

Junior let out a pent-up sigh. "Really? That's good. Was Joey at Téa's house yesterday? Is that why the dragon was on her roof?" He asked, almost pleadingly.

"Yes, Red-Eyes means no harm. No duel spirit really means harm." Yami answered as he sat up. He was surprised to see such relief on Junior's face, and even Grandpa seemed thankful.

"What are these duel spirits anyways? Where do they come from, and have they always been here?" Junior asked. Grandpa then turned around in his seat to face Yami.

"You didn't tell him?" Grandpa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't have the time to tell him much of anything last night," Yami admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Well," Grandpa sighed. "I suppose it's good you're driving. Because we have a lot to go over then."

Junior glanced at them with a bit of trepidation but nodded. Yami decided to start with the fact the duel monsters' world was parallel to their world, allowing the creatures to come over to this dimension occasionally. He then explained how Atlantis and Egypt created things like the Shadow Games or the Orichalcos to bring these monsters over. These civilizations left portals in important places that spirits could use to travel to this world. Once here, they could remain in the human dimension until their energy ran out. How they ended up as a card game was because of Maximillion Pegasus. The game maker recreated the old Egyptian summoning power in a new card game. With these cards, monsters didn't need the stationary portals anymore and could instead teleport immediately to wherever their card was.

"So that's how I saw them before the Duel Monsters game was invented," Junior said, his smile showing how much he had wanted that answer.

"It explains so much too," Grandpa added. "As soon as I heard about duel spirits yesterday, I wanted to tell you immediately. I ended up waiting, hoping to get more information from both you and the Pharoah. Maybe that is why Yugi waited on telling you too?"

"It was always a little odd that with my long list of problems, occasional hallucinations had to be tacked on with none of the other symptoms that usually comes with illnesses like that." Junior then frowned as he reached up to trace his facial scar. "Then again, maybe we shouldn't be getting our hopes up."

Both Grandpa and Yami leaned a little closer when Junior's demeanor suddenly fell so fast.

"I've seen beings that have never been in the Duel Monsters game before," Junior admitted. The atmosphere in the car darkened at that statement. Yami could tell it was hard for Junior to admit. It would be so much easier to say every weird thing he saw was a magical creature from another dimension, but Yami knew he was right to bring it up.

"Not every creature in that world has been made into the game yet. This is an entire dimension we are talking about. That's more species than can ever be made into cards." Yami said. This made both Mutos perk up a little.

"But how can I tell the difference?" Junior asked. "I would love to chalk this all up to magic, but I don't want to ignore it if I do have a problem."

The car once again fell quiet, each thinking about an answer when Grandpa lit up. "You said some spirits like to stay with a partner?" Yami nodded at him. Grandpa then turned to Junior. "Then maybe we can get one for you. If we found one creature that both the Pharaoh, Yugi, and you agree is real, then that spirit could help you decipher what is actually there."

"Is that possible?" Junior asked, hope lifting his tone.

Yami stayed thoughtfully quiet for a few moments. While he put a high amount of confidence in his explanation so the other two could feel reassured, if Yami was honest, he really didn't know that much about spirits. He had only known about their existence for a couple of months. He knew that they were connected to the old shadow games, something he initially stopped, so all spirits seemed to have a great amount of revere for him (even before he helped save them from the Leviathan). But other than the occasional visits by Dark Magician Girl, he hadn't spent a lot of time with spirits that could talk. All information on this subject he had gotten from her quick conversations before she went running back to her domain to fix some new problem.

Yami knew duel spirits needed energy to stay in this domain, something the Blue-Eyes made abundantly clear. While having something like a guiding spirit would be useful for Junior, Yami didn't want to get his hopes up if this was asking too much of a spirit. Yami eventually decided this was something they could hash out later when there wasn't a lockdown on the spirits' world.

"When we get Yugi back, there are a few spirits we can talk to, but I can't promise anything. I will say I noticed that most spirits only want to stay with duelists." Yami said, sticking to the facts he knew personally.

Grandpa chuckled. "Looks like it's time to get you back into Duel Monsters."

"Again?" Yami asked, not seeing Junior as the gaming type.

"When the game first came out, I fell for it hard. I even got a few tattoos of the original characters. It was a fun distraction from the… things I was doing at the time. Then I left Gozaburo's army. In my therapy sessions, I realized that the monsters I saw were always modeled after the game. I gave all my cards to Grandpa and swore never to pick it up again." Junior then shrugged and even chuckled a little. "With how the world is treating the card game now, I might need to become a duelist just to keep my job. Whether or not I need a seeing-eye duel spirit. You think I could have Gaia The Fierce Knight and Swords of Revealing Light back?"

"Those were originally your cards?" Yami gasped. Yami's surprise made Grandpa laugh more as he turned to Yami.

"It was, the original deck I gave you had cards from both my son and daughter-and-law. I said there was a great deal of heart in them, didn't I?"

Yami couldn't help but grasp at his duel pouch with his deck inside. So, it wasn't just Grandpa's heart in these cards?

"You know I'm joking about taking back the cards, right Yami?" Junior asked. "They're definitely your cards now. I'm sure once this is all over, Yugi and my Dad will leap at the chance to help me build a new deck."

"You know it! What do you think you'll be going for this time? More of an aggressive deck again, or do you want to try a strategy deck?" Grandpa did indeed seem ready to jump into deck building, right in the car. Seeing this made both Junior and Yami smile. For a few moments, Yami forgot about his tired headache.

"We can deal with my dueling chops later. I still have a few other questions." Junior said. "Why have there been more duel spirits coming over the last few years? It went from me seeing maybe one or two in a year, to spotting a veritable guided tour of them every few weeks. Is it because of you?" Junior asked. Yami felt a bit of heat flare up at Junior immediately blaming him, but then he reminded himself it wasn't much of a stretch to guess. He had been the reason for stranger things.

"It's less my fault and more Pegasus's growing game…" Yami petered off. In front of their car appeared a roadblock made of miles of traffic. It seemed to fill every road to the center of the city with line upon line of vehicles.

"What the-" Junior cut himself off as he hung out the window to see ahead. It was a good thing he was such a slow driver because he had time to turn off before he got stuck in the mess of angry cars. Junior then pulled over in a parking lot and pulled a city map out of the car's compartment to get an idea of how to avoid the traffic.

"See? This is why I said we should get one of those new TomToms for the family," Grandpa grumbled as he looked over the map too.

"I've deciphered nearly ruined maps in the jungles of the Amazon and got my whole team back earlier than expected, I can lead us through a bit of traffic." Junior shot back. As Junior and Grandpa argued over the best way, Yami noticed a few posters hung at a nearby shopping center. They were posters with Pegasus's face plastered all over them.

"Pegasus is in town?" Grandpa asked once he noticed that painted blue eye staring him down, a bit of apprehension in his voice.

"Right. With the new series of Duel Monster cards being released, Pegasus was doing a country-wide tour." Yami sighed, putting his face in his hand. More pieces to account for in this ever-expanding problem.

"The creator of Duel Monsters…Isn't he a friend of Yugi's?" Junior asked as he put away the map and pulled onto a side street.

"I wouldn't call him a friend. More like an acquaintance." Yami said in a low voice as he eyed Grandpa. Though he tried to hide it, Grandpa was still uncomfortable whenever the man that stole his soul was brought up. Even before everything was explained to him, he always connected his coma to Pegasus's VCR.

Junior glanced to both Yami and Grandpa, worry now coming to his eyes. "Oh, when Yugi talked to Yui or me about him, he always referred to him as a friend."

"Yugi does tend to adopt anything remotely friendly," Grandpa said.

"True…" Junior studied Grandpa for a few moments before he pulled over into a parking garage. "Ok, what's going on here? How did this random game creator figure out something decades of archeologists seem to miss, and more importantly, why are you so unnerved by him, dad?" Both Yami and Grandpa paused. Not quite sure where to start. When no one spoke, Junior chose to park the car. He then turned to face the two. "Let's start with question one then, does Pegasus see duel monsters too? Is that how he found out about them?"

"Maybe. It would explain how Pegasus knew about so many monsters, more than what was on the walls in ancient Egypt. He even knew about monster species before they were discovered in Atlantean ruins." Yami answered with a shrug. "The ability to see duel spirits outside of holograms doesn't seem to be connected to any dark power. People are either born with it or not, though…" Yami glanced at Junior. "It might be hereditary."

"I certainly don't see them. However, I don't know if your mother had the ability." Grandpa added.

"She was always more understanding when they scared me growing up." Junior sighed. Yami suddenly felt a wave of real tension between the two Mutos. The way they both stiffen and seemed unwilling to face each other, it felt like Junior had accidentally dug out an old wound. Yami didn't think it was a good idea to pick at it, so he quickly moved on. The two seemed all too happy to follow.

"To answer the second question, well…" Yami looked to Grandpa, wondering if this was the right place to start the story. Explaining how Grandpa got his soul stolen would involve why Seto had the gang go through his Death-T games, and that would require going through Yami's first year. If they were going to start, they might as well explain everything else that happened, too. Grandpa understood his silent question and nodded to him.

"Do you have to be at the police station at a certain time?" Grandpa asked.

"Just sometime today," Junior answered.

"Good, because I think it's time we told you the whole story," Grandpa said as he gestured for Yami to start.

….

Throughout the explanation, Junior asked many questions. More questions than Grandpa asked when at the museum. Along with more, Junior asked harder questions. The kind of questions that Yami didn't quite know the answers to. He still did his best to answer them, but it was Grandpa that took the reins there. He would let Yami attempt to answer first, then fill in blanks the pharaoh didn't even think about. What Grandpa really explained was WHY something was done. Yami did a good job of explaining how something happened, but it seemed what Junior needed was the motives. Why Yami felt the need to protect Yugi with dark magic he had seemingly locked away in the first place, why Pegasus was a friend-ish now if he once stole Grandpa's soul, and probably the hardest to answer, WHY didn't Yugi tell his family anything?!

While it took longer to get through Yami's story when they continually stopped to explain everyone's motives, it seemed to make Junior understand better. He didn't need much help figuring out what happened after listening for a while, even guessing the entirety of Battle City, including how the Ishtar family related to everything, all without Yami saying much. All he needed was the why's of their adventures; the answer usually being dark magic.

Where Junior's questions stopped was when it came to the Big Five, Noah, and Gozaburo. In his rush to get through years of adventures, Yami hadn't thought about how hearing his old co-workers' fates would affect Junior. Yami had planned to simply mention them and move on when he noticed Junior's change. He became eerily quiet as Yami explained first how the Big Five got trapped in cyberspace. Then a shadow seemed to fall over Junior's face when Yami told of his and his friends' dealings with what remained of Noah and Gozaburo.

"Noah kept Gozaburo's code in that one station. When it was destroyed, they were both…deleted. At least that is what Seto was able to glean from the station's black box." Yami ended. Junior still didn't say anything. He continued to look out the front window into the garage. Yami glanced worriedly to Grandpa, but the older man shook his head. A hint for Yami to remain quiet. The two remained still as Junior processed what had happened. His expression didn't show anger like Yami thought might come. Instead, his head slowly lowered.

"Well, that's that." Junior quietly said. He then snapped his attention back to Yami. "It sounds like you did very well against them. I'm glad you're all safe. And to think this all happened just last year."

Yami nodded as his grip on one knee became a little tighter. He usually left his curiosity alone; it wasn't his place to ask. But with everything he had learned about the Muto family lately, Yami felt it needed to be answered. "Did you know them well?" Grandpa immediately shot Yami a look, but Junior didn't seem too phased.

"Well enough, I suppose. Not so much Noah though, I only got to meet him after his accident." Junior said, a shiver rolling down his spine. "I hope that boy has found some peace. Watching him slowly go insane in the virtual world was… I left KaibaCorp right around that time, so I never got to see the end. I just took one emergency key to the boy's system so I could add it to my Gozaburo blackmail." Junior shook his head. His frown was becoming more pronounced every passing second.

"It's strange. While the Big Five were corrupt, I could never see them going as far as stealing children's bodies. They were always Gozaburo's stuffed shirts that wilted at the smallest hint of opposition. I still have one of those stupid penguin ties Crump gave out every Christmas party." There seemed to be an almost nostalgic mist that came to Junior's eyes as he looked down. Yami then felt as an ice block rolled down his innards. He had never thought much of the Big Five, just minor villains in his world of universe-ending troubles. But unlike his other villains, they weren't controlled by some great evil force. They were just bad people. Bad people that had lives and probably families. The same guilt that weighed on Yami regarding his first few months now crushed with more force. He and his friends did what they had to do. They were protecting themselves, there was no excuse for what those men did. But that didn't stop Yami's terrible feeling. Everywhere he seemed to go, destruction followed. All in the name of saving the world right?

Junior turned to Yami and looked over him for a few seconds. Yami once again tried to hide his inner battle, he thought he was doing well when suddenly Junior shifted. Just as quickly as the sentimental mist came, it immediately left Junior's eyes. His frown turned from sad to completely disgusted. "Strike that. I can absolutely see them doing that." Junior said with a hint of a growl.

"That's quite the shift in attitude," Grandpa said. Something about Grandpa's tone was different to Yami, like he was only mildly surprised at Junior's opinion doing a one-eighty.

"I have to remember that the versions of the Big Five I met weren't the real men's personalities. I was Gozaburo's big scary attack dog, after all. They were most likely so polite and accommodating to me because of fear, and the fact I was Gozaburo's oldest 'friend.' To get their place in the company, they would've had to be as cutthroat as Gozaburo himself. They wouldn't have shown mercy. You and the others had every right to defend yourselves from them in the manner you did." Junior said as he nodded to Yami. While Yami was glad he had another person that approved of his and his friend's decisions, there was a little thing that nagged at him. There was something else Junior was thinking of.

Grandpa reached out and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. Junior jumped slightly but kept Grandpa's hand there when he realized it was a gesture of comfort.

"You're thinking that might have been you," Grandpa said in a gentle, yet steady voice. Yami could tell he was doing his best not to sound accusatory. It sounded so similar to Yugi's way of speaking that Yami felt a sudden lonely pang.

Junior stared at his father for a few moments before taking in a sharp breath. "If I had stayed in KaibaCorp and hadn't spent all those years working to heal myself, I could very well have been with them. My division would have been one of the first to get cut by Seto when he took over, and I could very easily see myself looking for revenge." One of Junior's hands returned to the bottom of the steering wheel, seemingly in search of anything to squeeze. "Then what would I have done if I found out my son got stuck in virtual reality too? Would I still have gone forward? What if I lost my body completely like the others? Could I-?"

"You would not do that now!" Grandpa cut into the coming storm with a firm word. Junior immediately shut his mouth as Grandpa continued. "You care too much for others to ever be that selfish. These are what-ifs, not reality."

Yami was taken aback. That answer was strong, but it was still filled with love. Grandpa truly believed Junior would never do something like that, and it showed through his words and expression. What's more, it seemed like Granpa was prepared for this. Was this something he had to do often for Junior? This also brought Yugi to the Pharoah's mind. After Duelist Kingdom, when Yami had pulled entirely out of the Millennium Puzzle's shadows for the first time, he spent many weeks stewing over his past actions. A few years down the line, he could easily see how the Puzzle's shadows had initially influenced his confused mind. But at the time, Yami truly feared what kind of spirit he was when he had so easily thrown his conscience away in the past.

When Yugi had finally gotten what had been bothering him out of the spirit, the boy had done something very similar to what Grandpa just did. He had listened to the Pharaoh's worries, but when Yami started spiraling into darker thoughts, Yugi had immediately stopped him with a firm, but an absolutely sincere sentence.

"You are not like that! You are my friend and partner!"

It was so simple, yet it broke straight through Yami's growing worries, even if it was just for that moment. Yami couldn't help but wonder, was that something he learned from Grandpa, something the whole family had to learn for Junior's sake, or just these two's natural caring instincts taking over?

Junior paused, he at first seemed ready to brush off Grandpa's words. Then Grandpa squeezed Junior shoulder slightly. This physical touch seemed to bring Junior back to reality. "Right. You're absolutely right." Junior said, seemingly more for himself than anyone else in the car. "Those men have been gone for over a year now. The fact I am not with them just shows how many things have changed. I have to stay in the now." Junior said as he closed his eyes. Grandpa waited a few seconds and then pulled his hand away when Junior opened his eyes. He then turned to Yami.

"Sorry for interrupting your story, but I really must thank you. I know you have helped save the world multiple times, and that's still a hard fact to get over, but putting that group to rest is probably one of the better for the world." Junior said with a genuine smile that Yami happily grinned back to. "How many stories do we have left? Let's see, if that was last year, then, do you guys think you can finish the rest on the walk over to the station? It's still fifteen minutes from here, thanks to all this traffic."

…

Everything was laid bare once again, and this time Yami didn't feel so bad about outing Yugi's secrets. He did feel just as tired as last time, but he didn't think it was because of the same emotional release. It was more thanks to the clear and boiling hot summer day. Their walk had some shade thanks to all the tall buildings the center of the city had, but it wasn't enough for Yami.

Between his gasps for air, Yami also updated the two Mutos on where Yugi was and how to get him back using Red-Eye's plan. He admitted he didn't know where the glowing red card was and the three agreed that once they talked to Yui, they would tear apart the house to find it. Even after that was told, there was still a little while until they got to the station. In this empty time, Junior and Grandpa started asking more random questions about Yami and Yugi's adventures. Some made Yami laugh, and some that made him quirk an eyebrow.

"Dartz really was an ancient Atlantean king?!" Junior chuckled as the family walked.

"Yes, though I don't know what happened to him and his family when the island fell into the sea," Yami explained, doing his best to keep up with the two Mutos. Seriously, how were they not affected by the heat? Even Grandpa was walking faster than Yami!

"No wonder you and your colleagues could find nothing on that man," Grandpa laughed as he patted Junior's back. Junior could only shake his head.

"If we had known all this, it would have saved months of work."

"Work?" Yami asked. Junior turned back to him and gave a small smile.

"I work for the government fixing 'unusual' problems, remember? Dartz was a rather large one, even before he released an army of real monsters on our planet. My team and I were trying to track him down for months." Junior then sighed as he put his hands on his hips. "It really was hell on earth for me during that time. Not knowing if I was seeing an illusion or an actual monster. My poor therapists had a time trying to unwind that fun." Junior ruefully chuckled.

Yami understood the dark humor and knew he wasn't supposed to take Junior seriously, but he couldn't help the small frown that found its way to his face. It just reminded him that there were probably other people out there that were like Junior, people that could see duel spirits but didn't have the explanation. It really would be a scary world to be in. But how to get the information spread was something Yami had no idea how to start. Another idea that would have to be stored away until they got Yugi and his memories back…

If there is a time after that.

Yami pushed that thought and the trip to Egypt out of his mind. There was such a finality surrounding that journey that Yami couldn't explain. It felt like it would be 'the end' without any real reason why Yami thought of it as so. It was just another adventure, an adventure that would get him what he most wanted in this world. Yami's headache throbbed again, and he dropped the thought.

'With my body suddenly seeming so intent on falling apart on me, the real question is if I will even make it to Egypt.' Yami had meant the thought as a joke, but he felt as goosebumps grew across his arm, even in this intense heat. The rocky puzzle seemed to respond to his comment with a dark pulse. Something he hadn't felt from the item in years.

"Ok, explain one other thing for me." Junior cut into Yami's thoughts. "Why will getting this glowing card help get Yugi back from the Duel Monsters world?"

"I don't know," Yami admitted. "Red-Eyes seemed pretty confident in the plan, though."

"Maybe we can ask him when we pick up Joey and Téa. He does hang around Joey, right?" Grandpa asked. Along with Yami's backstory, the family had discussed how to explain things to Yui. Eventually, they decided it would be best to have as many witnesses as possible. It was agreed Grandpa would call Yugi's friends to update them while Yami and Junior gave their statements at the police station. Whoever finished their mission first would then grocery shop.

"Yes, duel spirits tend to stay with their card holders. Something about losing less energy when they do so." Yami explained.

"With all the cards we carry, I'm surprised that the shop's not constantly filled with monsters. The most I ever saw was that Blue-Eyes when we first moved in." Junior cringed. Yami couldn't figure out why he'd be embarrassed by the Blue-Eyed spirit's mention but chose to ignore it for now. They were then coming up to the police station.

"Ok, you two give your statements. I'll call Yugi's friends and see if we can pick them up on the way back." Grandpa said before the two went inside.

"Sounds good," Junior said. He was about to wave off his father when his hand absent-mindedly went into his pocket. He suddenly became very frantic as he groped around in it for a bit, even turning out the pocket. It was then Grandpa grinned his own toothy grin as he produced the car keys from his overalls.

"It might be faster for me to get the car if you guys take long. So, consider this revenge for this morning." Grandpa laughed before sauntering off.

Junior seemed frozen for a few moments, then grinned and led Yugi into the police station. "Still so skilled at sleight of hand, even after all these years." Junior chuckled to himself.

When the two entered the station, the air conditioner hit them first, much to their relief. The two of them were definitely not wearing clothes for walking in the summer sun. Yami wanted to collapse in a chair but obediently followed behind Junior to the front window. The station was relatively empty thanks to the commotion in the center of the city. The two walked right to the front. After explaining their situation, they were then told to sit and wait. Yami was all too grateful to flop in a chair, breathing in deep to try and cool his body.

"And you said you walked for a day in the California desert?" Junior chuckled at Yami's tiredness.

"I was driven by the impending end of the world," Yami answered, a bit more sharpness to his voice then he was intending. Junior merely smiled and leaned back in his chair. While Yami didn't want Junior worried, he too was wondering why he had gotten tired so quickly. Sure, the sun was hot, but not enough to make him so exhausted this fast.

Movement in the side of Yami's eyes cut this train of thought short. It was the all too familiar movement, at this point, of a tall boy running by. Yami immediately froze, and even Junior took an interest as the boy ran up to the front.

"Got the coffee, sir! Did you want my statement now then-?" The boy then noticed the pairs of eyes on him, and he turned, becoming rigid also.

"Hello again, Tetsu."

**A/N: Sorry, nothing much happened in this chapter. Thanks to an early midterm and other responsibilities, my writing time got cut in half. I'm told this busy school pace will continue until the end of the year, but I am determined to keep this biweekly schedule. So please be aware there might be some shorter chapters (or chapters with more talking than action) ahead. Thank you for continually reading! I appreciate you all so much! I am so excited that we are now in the end game of this story. (Though, the last time I said that, I was only half-way through my previous story. So who knows? Certainly not my plot-outline that keeps being stretched out.)**


	23. I Need a Hero

"What is this?" Yugi whispered as he stared at the looming prophecy.

In front of him was an ancient and cracked stone slab that depicted three people. From left to right, it showed a male with intense yellow eyes decked out in black armor, a small green-haired girl with a claw marking on her arm. Then the figure that got Yugi's attention in the first place, a spikey-haired man wearing what was undoubtedly the Millennium Puzzle.

Each figure had duel monsters surrounding them and a door separating them from the other humans. The armored man had many duel spirits around him, but the most detailed was a demon-humanoid that seemed to either be embracing him or strangling him. The little girl was hugging a Kuriboh to her chest and had a sizeable fairy-like dragon protecting her. Yugi's mouth dried as he studied the rightmost figure. Behind this figure was a giant black and red dragon roaring to the sky. To each of his sides was a spellcaster crossing scepters above him; to the left stood a silver and blue woman, standing taller than the rest. To his right was a floating pink and blue mage that could only be Dark Magician Girl. Below each of these figures was a language Yugi couldn't read. The only words he could make out was blazed across the top of the stone in bold carved letters.

"The Duel Spirit Heroes Prophecy!" Silent's words made Yugi jump as they appeared right in front of his nonblinking eyes. Yugi pulled his gaze away, looking to the tiny mage for answers. She had to wade through the Kuribohs before making it to his side. Once she got to him, she too stared at the carving in awe. Even the Kuriboh in Yugi's arms seemed entranced by the depictions.

"It's changed." Silent wrote.

"It has?"

"Yes, when I was learning about prophecies, this slab only read 'Duel Spirit Heroes,' and had vague human-like figures. I heard the version in the human world had more carvings to it, but I haven't seen that one. This is clearly our version, and it's never been this detailed before!" She soundlessly gasped.

"So, you don't know what this is about?" Yugi asked as he held Kuriboh a little tighter.

"Of course, I do! This was made to foretell of humans and their partners that would save the duel spirit world." Silent grew a humongous smile as she ran up to the slab. Yugi was sure that if she could make a sound, she would have squealed. "Look, look! This has to be us! I wonder if it's this very moment or something in the future... We can worry about that later. JUST LOOK! I'm actually in a prophecy!" She turned back to Yugi, expecting him to be just as excited. Yugi, though, kept his eyes on the rightmost figure with a firm frown on his face. Silent's smile lessened when she noticed.

"I promise this isn't a bad prophecy. It doesn't foretell our deaths or anything like that. Well, it also doesn't explain how in the stars' guiding light we are supposed to save everyone. But it does say we will succeed." She wrote.

"I've found destiny is never truly set in stone," Yugi said, shifting Kuriboh from arm to arm as he glanced to the floor.

"Well yeah, that's how seeing the future is. No matter how many with the gift see it, a prophecy is never guaranteed. It's why the prophecy makers have their own little dimension to themselves. So, monsters with the gift can work together and research to make the clearest predictions possible with our ever-changing futures." Silent then gestured around the great room. "But I promise you, to get a prediction in Dark Magician's castle, it has to be pretty big or pretty assured."

When Yugi didn't react and instead returned his gaze to the stone with his frown, Silent sighed. She then started wildly gesturing at the prophecy like a gameshow hostess. "Come on! I know you've experienced prophecies with the Pharaoh, but just because it's not new for you doesn't mean it's not cool. The great prophecy makers thought we were important enough to carve into rare magic stone, enough that their human counter-parts made a similar depiction in the human world." Silent wrote. The Kuribohs around the room burst out cheering for the two, Yugi's Kuriboh patting his shoulder. This made Yugi look around in surprise as Silent jokingly bowed to the crowd. Yugi blinked a couple of times before he eventually smiled, much to the relief of everyone else.

"That's the spirit. It's a great honor for us monsters to be in a prophecy. You should be enjoying it too." Silent grinned. Then, to everyone's surprise, Yugi shook his head.

"That looks very much like you, Silent. I won't deny that. But that human isn't me." He said with absolute certainty. The Kuribohs quieted as everyone turned to Yugi with a bit of confusion.

"Really?" Silent asked as she looked back at the stone, her mouth then turned down. "How can that NOT be you? It's not like all humans have a massive pyramid necklace as a fashion statement. Look, the name for this hero is even 'The Dragon of Restoration.' It must be referencing your relationship with the Dragon of Destruction name, from both our and the human world."

Yugi once again found himself staring at the figure. He wasn't blind. He could see what Silent was talking about. But there was something undeniably different about this figure in the stone. He stood straight and tall, one hand on his hip and the other reaching out as if to help the onlooker up. He wore a long coat that seemed to be a cross between Yugi's school uniform and Seto's white jacket. The figure was benevolently smiling out of the carving, a gentle spark in his eyes. Yet, there was something about his stance; he was in charge. He was the king, and he knew it. That wasn't Yugi. Even on his best day, he was nowhere near that kind of aura. Add on; this was supposed to be someone that could save the entire monster dimension.

"That's not me. It has to be the Nameless Pharaoh. I'm not the type to end up in prophecies." Yugi said. Silent's mouth gaped open for a few moments. Then she started wildly summoning words. Before Yugi could read them, he wiped them away. "That came out wrong. Before you start lecturing me that I'm just as worthy as the Pharaoh, trust me, I know. It took years to get it through my thick head, but I got it. I'm just as equal to the Pharaoh. What I mean here is that… I'm just a normal kid. Before the Pharaoh, things like this didn't happen to me. I'm not the type to save an entire dimension. He is. It's him that all these magical events circle." Yugi said.

Once again, the room went silent. Yugi didn't quite know why they all seemed so shocked at something obvious to him. As he thought it over, a lightbulb went off in his head. "Wait, maybe this means the Pharaoh will be here soon! You'll get to meet him finally. Maybe that's how this prophecy is fulfilled?"

Silence

"You really believe that?" Silent asked, her annoyance disappearing. "That it's only the Pharaoh that can be part of something like this?"

"I mean, I help as much as I can on our adventures, but I'm not the main hero. I'm not the type for this kind of thing to focus on." Yugi said as he forced a small smile. "As I said, I'm very much equal to him, just look at this adventure I've been on with you. I think we've been doing just fine on our own. But I am only here on accident. If destiny was going to choose someone to save this world, it'd choose him."

Once again, everyone was silent. Yugi was starting to become a little uncomfortable under all the eyes. Then suddenly, all the Kuribohs squeaked louder than they ever did before. Yugi jumped in surprise. He turned to Silent, hoping for an explanation, she merely pointed her thumb towards the front of the room. All at once, the loudly squeaking sea lifted Yugi.

"Hey!" Yugi yelped. His Kuriboh then leaped out in front of the wave, readjusted their slipping jewelry, and led the mob as they pushed Yugi to near the front of the great room. Yugi initially tried to fight them, fearing he might be seen being so close to the hallway, but the current was too strong. Eventually, the mob dropped him unceremoniously in front of another large stone. Silent came running up and helped him to his feet. He quickly thanked her and was about to demand what was wrong with everyone when his eyes ended up glued to another carving on the wall.

It was the same depiction as the stone the Pharaoh had to eventually present the Egyptian God Cards to. Yugi gasped at the familiar scene of the Nameless Pharaoh and his priest dueling. Then Yugi noticed all the other prophecies that surrounded him. They all showed the Pharaoh and even Yugi's friends in their many adventures. A small jar was depicting the summoning of Exodia, a tapestry woven with the highs and heartbreaks of Battle City, even a towering statue that carved the battle between the Leviathan, Joey, Seto, and of course the Pharaoh. Yugi's breath seemed to stop. All his friends' adventures, beautifully detailed, seemingly thousands of years ago.

Silent grabbed Yugi's hand as his Kuriboh jumped into in his other. Yugi looked to them with a tilt of his head. They then pointed back to the carving of the ancient pharaoh dueling his priest. They then led Yugi to look at the other specific depictions of the Pharaoh. Yugi noticed that no matter the craft, the Pharaoh was always made in the same kind of style, even in a 3D space. He always had darker skin when color was present, and he still wore his Egyptian clothing, even among his modern friends. Silent then pulled Yugi to one last prophecy. In a small corner was a simple painting. It was only about the size of a binder, yet seeing it made Yugi swallow hard, a slight pull at his heart and his headache throbbing a bit harder.

On its canvas was two similar-looking men dueling, beside them was a group of people watching closely. In this small group, Yugi could easily pick out Téa's attempt to smile while fighting back tears. Joey was standing tall when he was trying to seem tough. Tristan's silent strength as he leaned on Joey for something to ground him. Even Bakura was there, not the evil dark spirit, the sweet and polite friend Yugi missed so much these last few months. Yugi knew his friends' expressions better than anyone, what he didn't recognize as well was the two duelists.

One was definitely the Nameless Pharaoh. He had the same looks as the earlier prophecies depicted. What wasn't familiar was the Pharaoh's stance. He wasn't confident. He almost seemed sorry to be dueling. Then there was his twin across the way. This was the same figure as the one on the Duel Spirit Heroes, with his long blue coat and Millennium Puzzle. He seemed just as hesitant about this duel as the Pharaoh, tears starting to fall down his face as he yelled for his monster to attack.

"You get it?" Silent's words reappeared. It was only the flickering letters that could have pulled Yugi away from that picture. There was a tremendous bittersweetness that radiated from the painting's simple golden frame. It was so stunning to Yugi. It seemed to resonate with him on a much deeper level. Looking at it, Yugi found tears starting to rim his eyes, even if he didn't know what exactly this painting was depicting. He quickly wiped the tears away and turned back to Silent. Yugi wanted to respond to her, but he found his throat drying up. So, he instead looked back at the whole section of prophecies about the Nameless Pharaoh.

"While the prophecy makers often take creative liberties with the creatures they depict, they always depict them the same from picture to picture." She pointed to the one dueling the Pharaoh in the painting. "Who agreed to climb a mountain for some jerk of a wishing well? Who stood face to face with a raging Gandora and didn't blink? Who looked past these same dragons' reputations to befriend one? Revealing to one magician that maybe all dragons weren't the same savage beasts she had died too? Who is still determined to help these spirits despite being far from home, all with no thought of reward?! You! You are just as much of a magical hero as the Pharaoh, you idiot!"

Yugi could only stare at the group of monsters around him. All the Kuribohs, including his own, agreed with various squeaks. A warm light seemed to seed in his heart and slowly radiate through the rest of his body.

It was him. It was him on there.

Yugi needed to repeat it a few times just for it to sink in. He never realized just how much it had become an ingrained thought that only the Pharaoh had the strength for magic. It wasn't that Yugi didn't think he was worthy of such a task. But it seemed to make more sense, or more likely, it was easier for him to say all this magic was here because of the Pharaoh. So, it could only be the Pharaoh that would be great enough for such prophecies.

'I guess I still have a lot of entrenched insecurities about myself, even if I know I'm just as strong as the Pharaoh.' Yugi thought as he looked out at the crowd. They seemed eager for him to speak, and Yugi knew he shouldn't keep them waiting.

"Ok, so it's me," Yugi said. Silent and all the Kuribohs once again stood in shock. Then they all sighed. A few Kuribohs even laying down in relief.

"That's good. We thought it'd be harder to convince you." Silent wrote with an annoyed smile. "I had a few more friendship speeches ready when you tried to reject this one."

"Well, I've been through this dance before. Maybe this time it'll finally settle in?" Yugi couldn't help but chuckle. "You guys were very adamant about this, which I'm glad for, but why?"

"The way you were talking, it sounded like you believed all magic, including us, only existed because of the Pharaoh. It'd be a bit of an insult if our entire society was only here because one human kid happened to stop some dark magic."

"I didn't mean it like that at all!" Yugi quickly backtracked. "I hadn't even thought that might come across! I am so sorry if I offended any of you-" Silent started flashing a series of "no" in his face until his incoming apology sputtered to a stop.

"I wish I could wipe away your words as easily as you do mine." Silent soundlessly sighed. She then looked to him with a smile. "We knew that wasn't your intention. What we were also angry about was that you so immediately disregarded yourself. Even before this prophecy revealed more, you AND the Pharaoh have been heroes to us monsters. There's humility, and then there's self-doubt. We didn't want our friend falling into the wrong category."

Yugi grinned back at Silent and hugged Kuriboh tighter. "Right. I'm glad I have you all here." The Kuribohs returned to cheering as Yugi looked back to the painting. "It's just that, everything seemed to start when the Pharaoh came. I guess I just internalized that…" Yugi then looked down at his quartz puzzle. It wasn't the golden puzzle he knew, but it was still his connection to his dearest friend. "So, I won't lose all this if he leaves…" Yugi whispered.

At that thought, he felt as a significant weight flew off his back. He smiled; he hadn't even realized how that little thought had worried him so. He wouldn't lose his connection with Duel Spirits if the Pharaoh wasn't around. One, that was an absolute assurance that he wasn't crazy seeing those spirits growing up (He would have to find a time to tell his dad about that. That would be such a relief to both of them). Two, this led to an uncovering of one of Yugi's deepest subconscious thoughts. He wouldn't lose all his growth if the Pharaoh wasn't around. Yugi's experiences, his friends (spirit and human), and his strength. Now that Yugi was actively thinking about it, he knew it was such a silly worry. Of course, all of that wouldn't just disappear without the Pharaoh. But it had been an ever-present concern in Yugi's darkest self-doubts. After his friends and the Pharaoh spent years working with him on his self-confidence, that last irrational worry was finally gone. Just another reason to thank his dear friends when he got home. He didn't need the Pharaoh to have all this.

He didn't need the Pharaoh.

Yugi's heart suddenly twisted, all his good feelings rushing out in a whirlwind, leaving only a pang of intense guilt. How dare he think that?! This thought had been plaguing him even before this specific adventure, starting around the KaibaCorp Grand Championship. Of course, he buried it deep whenever it came up, so deep even a spirit sharing his mind would have no idea of it. He would always need the Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh needed him. They were partners to the very end. How dare he even consider being separated from the spirit.

"What's going on?" Silent wrote.

"What do you mean?" Yugi pulled away from his thoughts and plastered on a smile.

"I've seen you do this the entirety up the mountain. Every time you think of the Pharaoh, you grow happy, then it all falls away. What's worse, it seems like guilt replaces whatever light was there before. Did you two have a fight or something before Gandora wished you away?"

"Oh, no. Nothing like that." Yugi quickly said as he unconsciously raised his hands in a defensive gesture.

"It's not nothing. What-" Silent's words were then cut off by distant banging echoing around the castle. Yugi looked to the Kuribohs to see if more of their buddies were coming. The little puffballs instead started to surround the two slowly. Worry clear on their faces, as they seemed to crowd Yugi for safety. His Kuriboh then hopped out of his arms but stayed glued to his pant leg.

The banging became louder, the sound of tipped-over armor and other items clattering to the ground followed. Unlike the earlier Kuriboh mob, this didn't have the roar of a hundred little clawed feet hopping down a hall. This was one big mass rampaging through the castle.

"Maybe we should get to hiding again?" Silent's words read. She wrote them tinier, and they glowed less than her last words. Her words soon turned to glitter as the walls began to vibrate with every crash.

"…Yeah…" Yugi whispered as he and Silent tried to slink to the back of the room. The shaking Kuribohs wanted to follow, blocking, and tripping up the two humanoids. While Yugi tried to keep himself from stepping on them, Silent gave up on being polite and started rudely throwing balls of fluff. This just made the mob more frenzied, crowding the two more.

Yugi tried to calm down the mob silently, but a great roar shook the walls. It made Yugi's ears ring. 'That's a familiar roar, but it's not Gandora.' Yugi thought, then his eyes widened. He had forgotten to keep that thought below surface-level.

"**YUUUUUGGGGGIIII!**" The roar finally made a coherent sound as the great catastrophe could be heard plowing its way towards the room. Yugi and Silent had nowhere to hide, so they clung to each other for support as all the surrounding Kuribohs did the same to their legs.

"**THERE YOU ARE!**" Great white teeth snapped through the archway, right in front of Silent and Yugi. The jaw snap had enough force to blow both Silent and Yugi's hair back. All the two could do at that moment was scream in surprise. In another white flash, both Yugi and Silent found themselves yanked from the prophecy chambers. Only Yugi's Kuriboh could keep hold to Yugi's leg thanks to their jewelry accidentally clasping on to Yugi's jeans.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." The now pristinely calm voice said.

Yugi blinked in surprise to find some set of living teeth had not eaten him. He was instead standing in the hallway, still hugging Silent desperately, Blue-Eyes towering over them. She wildly whipped her tail back and forth as she stared down at him.

"Err, hi, Blue-Eyes." Was all Yugi could get out between gasps for air. Silent then opened her eyes. She looked up at the irate Blue-Eyes, decided she didn't particularly want to see that now and closed her eyes again. She did let go of Yugi, allowing him to face the dragon, Kuriboh still attached to his leg by both their accessory and out of fear.

"I told you that you were not done healing. Yet, you still set out. Do you know how far back you could have set your healing process?! Add on you go and play in the prophecy chamber. You could have broken something." She huffed, seeming angrier that Yugi didn't listen to her more than any damage he might have done.

"I wasn't playing in there. Silent and I needed a private conversation, that's all." Yugi stood on his tiptoes, so he was just that bit taller. This honestly reminded him of trying to argue with his mother about his bedtime when he was much younger. It was that same unbalanced feeling of trying to convince an adult that had already written him off, despite him having an excellent point this time.

"A conversation you two couldn't have in the healer's room?"

"He did say private conversation, right?" Silent added, slowly peeking once she realized Yugi was the one getting yelled at.

"Humph." Blue-Eyes snorted. "There is nothing you couldn't have said in front of me."

Yugi and Silent glanced a knowing look to each other. "Sure." Yugi breathed in a sarcastic tone. At this, Blue-Eyes raised her head and even started to show her teeth. It was then Yugi realized he did not want to set off yet another dragon. He quickly put on an apologetic face. It was time to put his panda eyes to use for once.

"I am sorry, Blue-Eyes. But it was important to my friend and me." He said as he put his hands together, making himself seem as small as possible. "I just needed time to make sure my new friend was safe. That's all. The last time I saw her, she was hurt to the point of passing out."

Blue-Eyes looked over him, her annoyance not leaving. Yugi then looked down at the ground, seeming defeated. This look the Pharaoh dubbed "the heart-melter." Yugi did it when he was disappointed, but didn't want to be a burden. The spirit said it was such a sad look that he was pretty sure even heartless villains would feel bad. Yugi never intended to guilt people to get what he wanted, but apparently, he had been doing it for years with this expression. Now he hoped he could get the same effect by doing it purposefully.

Blue-Eyes continued to stare Yugi down. It looked like she was about to start to lecture him when she closed her mouth. She then sighed and looked to Silent. "Fine, I suppose that is a worthy reason. Though I am still not happy that you had to trick me with a band of other monsters."

Silent smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. "The Goblin Attack Force owed me. Now we are even. You helped balance our relationship if that makes you feel better." She wrote. Blue-Eyes didn't seem impressed but chose not to comment.

"Come now, let us get back to healing," Blue-Eyes said as she gestured with her wing down the hall.

"But I'm fine. I don't even have scars anymore." Yugi tried, real dread filling him at the thought of being stuck in that bed again.

"Then why are you still out of breath from a simple scare?" Blue-Eyes asked. Yugi put a hand to his chest and realized the truth to Blue-Eyes's words. Somehow, he was still breathing hard from yelling a few minutes ago. It wasn't as if there was a weight on his chest, or his throat was clogged. It was more he was too tired, like he had just run a marathon. And of course, his headache was still as hot as before, but he chose to keep that extra fact from Blue-Eyes.

"You are just that good at being a terrifying monster." Yugi joked with a kindly smile. He finally got control of his breathing, but both Blue Eyes and Silent still seemed worried. It didn't help Yugi's case when his headache throbbed just that bit harder.

"Hmm, while I love the compliment, you still need to heal more if your body became tired that quickly. Come." She said with a flick of her tail. Yugi knew there was no argument, so he followed behind. At this point, Kuriboh managed to get themself untangled from his pant leg. They then jumped into Silent's arms as she caught up with Yugi.

"I thought you were healthy. I would have waited longer if I knew you were still sick." She wrote.

"I'm fine. I was in a coma for a while, remember? It's just taking my body a bit to get used to moving again." Yugi smiled, trying to hide how he was just as unsure as Silent.

"Ok… I don't want your body to fall apart on us. That'd be hard to get back to the human world." Silent wrote as she nudged Yugi playfully. Yugi laughed, ignoring the sudden dark pulse that came from the Millennium Puzzle. It had to be his imagination; the puzzle hadn't reacted to him personally in years.

…

"What do you mean I can't tell him what those prophecies meant?' Silent's angry words floated in front of Blue-Eyes.

The group had been walking through the castle for a bit. Blue-Eyes had been spending the majority of the time finding the least packed passageways. Even then, they had to pass by some monsters that wanted to get to know Yugi, badly. It was only Blue-Eyes's strength and revere that kept Yugi from signing a million autographs. While they waited as Blue-Eyes scouted ahead, Yugi started asking about the prophecies he hadn't already live through, more specifically the small picture of him dueling the Pharaoh and the Duel Spirit Heroes. Right as Silent was about to explain what they entailed, Blue-Eyes came back and demanded she stop.

"Prophecies can only be explained in detail to humans by the prophecy makers, a domain leader blessed by the prophecy makers, or the holder of the Millennium Necklace. Since you are none of those, I suggest you stop." Blue-Eyes said in a way that let them know it wasn't a suggestion.

"That is a dumb rule, and you know it. He has the right to know what his future has in store for him." Silent wrote back.

"If done at the wrong time, such explanations can ruin a prophecy's chances of happening. If he saw the prophecies I think he is referring too; you know how much we will need them to happen. So be smart, remain quiet."

Yugi and Silent could only sigh. Then Yugi lit up at an idea. "Hey, wait, I have the Millennium Necklace at home. Doesn't that make me the holder of that item?" Yugi asked, deciding not to bring up the fact the item lost its power.

"So, you do," Blue-Eyes said after checking the memories Yugi mentally sent her. "You are correct; you do have the right. Go ahead and tell Silent what the prophecies mean."

Yugi could only grumble as Silent crossed her arms. Blue-Eyes controlled herself enough to not laugh at them, but Yugi saw a small smile come to her face. This was then cut off by a clatter from behind them. Blue-Eyes snapped to attention; teeth bared. Behind them, a few Kuribohs in front of the mob had accidentally knocked down a vase. They quickly put it back on its pedestal, and the whole horde frantically hopped out of sight.

"Your friends aren't too good at stealth." Silent wrote to the Kuriboh in her arms. Kuriboh annoyedly squeaked as they waved their hand dismissively. Yugi would have chuckled if he wasn't trying to control his breathing. He felt exhausted from only walking across the castle.

The four then turned into a long hallway. Glass windows surrounded the last passageway before the healer's room. Yugi looked out into the perfect forest, ignoring that old unnerving sensation, to see a small town of monsters he hadn't noticed before. He would have spent more time staring at the duel spirits going about their day if he didn't feel a little creepy about it.

"We are almost back. As soon as we get to the room, I want you to jump into bed-" Blue-Eyes ordered before suddenly being cut off. As the group made it to the end of the glass hallways, a great crash shook the castle. It made both Yugi and Silent lose balance. Even Blue-Eyes had to spread out her wings to catch herself.

"What was that-?!" Yugi began to say before another dragon roar ripped through the air. "That's Gandora! Our Gandora!" Yugi shouted as he hopped to his feet and pressed his face to the window. Out in the forest, near the village, a cloud of smoke could be seen drifting by as a massive pine tree fell from view. Another roar, drenched in heartbreak, filled the air. Yugi couldn't stand it anymore. Not when she was within his reach. "We have to help her!"

"Not her again," Blue-Eyes growled as she found her way to her feet. "Ignore her, Yugi. You have to focus on healing."

Yugi looked desperately to Blue-Eyes. When he found no sympathy in her face, he turned to Silent and Kuriboh. Each looked just as conflicted as Yugi. It was Kuriboh that was the first to move. They snapped their claws and pulled on Silent's collar. They pointed at the window, then down the hall behind them. They also squeaked a flurry of commands that Yugi couldn't make out. Silent seemed at first horrified, but eventually, she shook her head.

"Well, I already kidnapped him once." She wrote with a sigh.

"Wait, I demand you stop right this instance-!" Blue-Eyes began to roar.

"Hold onto your puzzle and be thankful Dark Magician Girl is planning another early domain reset." Silent's words flashed in front of Yugi so fast he almost didn't make them out.

As Blue-Eyes shot forward to grab Yugi, the mob of not so sneaky Kuribohs suddenly surged forward. At the same time, Silent lifted one of her hands, azure blue cracks suddenly appearing all over her body like she was a broken porcelain doll. Right as Yugi felt Blue-Eyes's teeth graze the back of his shirt, a great magical force pushed him. He was thrown back as the window behind him shattered before he even touched it. Instead of the usual blue aura that surrounded the things Silent used her magic to lift or push, each was suddenly covered in the same glowing blue cracks as her body. Blue-Eyes was pushed by the force also. Thanks to her body being behind the brick of the castle, she was pinned to the walls.

Silent then let go, letting everything, including Yugi, fall. As Yugi began to question his life decisions, the Kuriboh horde flowed from the broken window. On this wave rode Silent and Kuriboh as they directed the hurricane. Yugi was quickly caught up in the waterfall of fluff as the Kuribohs used their abilities to make the landing pillow-soft. They then kept flowing towards the smoke. Once Yugi realized what in Silfer's name was going on, he waved to Silent. The magician nodded to him, and he was levitated to her side. The blue cracks appeared on both her and Yugi again as she floated him over. Yugi was about to ask why when he was cut off by yet another dragon roar.

"YUGI!" Blue-Eyes yelled, but the hole in the window was not big enough for her. While Yugi knew she had more than enough strength to make a bigger hole, he had a feeling the prim and proper dragon wouldn't cause more damage. Knocking over suits of armor was one thing, breaking a domain leader's castle was another. Yugi could only hope she would forgive them later.

As Blue-Eyes grew smaller in the distance, Yugi looked ahead as the trees parted. The Kuribohs flooded into a blackened clearing. At the center was Gandora, covered in rubble, desperately trying to put together the remains of an exploded building. Tears in her eyes, and wounds across her body.


	24. Closure

The clock in the police station continued to tick endlessly — the only sound in the empty front room. Yami was sitting stiffly next to Junior, the father reading a magazine he swiped from the front window. Across the room stood just as rigidly, Tetsu Trudge. He leaned up against the far wall, the entire time trying to avoid eye contact with the pharaoh. Yami was also attempting to keep his eyes away, but this similar goal only made the two meet gazes more often than either would have liked. Each time violet met brown, they bristled and quickly turned away. This continued in silence until Junior's chuckling got the two's attention.

"You two look like the guiltiest gulls. I understand why, but if I didn't know any better I'd guess you two were the ones to rob the store." He said. Yami tried to hide his embarrassment as Tetsu rubbed the back of his head. Junior then stood up. "I suppose this quiet is a little awkward. Let's see… If this building used to be the DMV, that means… ah." Junior walked over to a corner of the room. There, attached to the wall was an old brick of a TV.

As Junior started fiddling with the TV, the policewoman the Mutos met the night before came up from the back. "Sorry you had to wait, there has been a large disturbance in the city center." She said.

"We saw the traffic leading to it," Junior said as he finally got the TV started. It flicked on to a news channel. Yami's interest was piqued when on the staticky screen, duel monsters could be seen rushing past. The report showed these monsters running and flying outside of the duels they were in, not following KaibaCorp protocol at all. Yet, unlike when Dartz released real monsters into this world, they were only holograms. The news report seemed to be originally broadcasting Pegasus's tour of the city. Pegasus had been showing off a new monster and their holographic design when his beast twitched to life. Duel spirits without holograms couldn't be seen in recordings, even by the few with the ability. Yet, as soon as a spirit jumped into the hologram, both Yami and Junior noticed a difference. They didn't even need to witness the monster running rampant to know a soul was in there. Soon, other holograms came to life and started causing havoc. Yami tried to listen to the report to see if the duel spirits were talking, but either duel spirit voices couldn't be transmitted over video too, or the monsters were so preoccupied with panicking they weren't speaking.

An emergency world bulletin changed the local report. Duelists' holograms were going wild all over the world. Some seemed calmer than the ones at Pegasus's event, but they weren't much better at conveying to the scared humans what was wrong. The newscasters were debating whether this was the same problem they had earlier this year. Thankfully, since the monsters where only holograms they couldn't physically affect anything. They simply caused panic as these wild creatures tore through cities, flying through walls and stampeding passed people.

Junior looked to Yami for an explanation, but Yami could only shrug. 'Maybe it's thanks to the lockdown? But then why would the spirits wait a day before trying to get the humans' attention? And if they were trying to talk to the humans, why were they so bad at it?' Yami pondered. From what he had seen, duel spirits could only possess the holograms for their specific monster. Once they found one, they could move around and speak using it like it was a normal body.

"It's going to be more than a one-time incident then." The policewoman sighed.

"It looks like it's going to be a long day. Should we come back later?" Junior asked.

"No, I can take your statements now. I'll start with Tetsu then-"

"Julia." Another policeman came up from the back. As soon as Junior saw him, he froze. Yami immediately noticed the change in Yugi's father and looked to the new policeman. He was a taller man with a thick mustache. "Your son just called. He got hurt when his hologram went crazy. I can take this; you go deal with him." The policewoman thanked this new man immensely while she ran back into the station.

"Hello, officer Trek!" Tetsu smiled for the first time Yami had seen that day.

"Oh, hello, Tetsu." The man smiled. "I thought we agreed you didn't have to come after you finished your student hours? Though I won't fight you if you want to help us out."

"I'm actually here to give my statement, but I probably would have come to help anyway with that whole hologram thing going on," Tetsu said as he straightened his back to look taller for the policeman.

"Right! I apologize. I was just put on this case in all this hologram madness. I haven't had a chance to see everyone's names yet." Trek then looked down at his clipboard where a file of information was. "You must have been very brave, Tetsu. Going up against those brothers like that. I knew you had the guts for this job… Let's see, so you were the first person to call 911, then we have the second boy to call, and then the one to disarm…" The officer's body became very still, yet his eyes kept darting back and forth on the page. He then slowly looked up, swallowing hard. He turned until his gaze landed on Junior. They both remained frozen, like two predators that met in the wild. Both Tetsu and Yami stared too, feeling the immediate tension in the air. Eventually, the two boys got over their reluctance and look to each other for answers. Yami could only shrug while Tetsu watched worriedly from the side.

"Not you again." Trek finally said.

"Me again." Junior nervously chuckled as he forced on a smile.

Trek was staring down Junior, though Yami couldn't quite read the policeman's expression. Junior seemed to be standing nonchalantly, but Yami could tell he was ready to spring. Whether he was prepared to attack or run, Yami didn't know and hoped not to find out. Yami took in a deep breath and was about to break the silence when Trek did it for him. Just as suddenly as the officer lost his smile, he gained it again. He even chuckled a little. He then walked up to Junior, who was too frozen to react.

"I should have expected the random bystander that took out the armed men to be you. So glad to see your skills be put to good use again." Trek smiled. Junior did not seem any calmer. In fact, he looked more ready to bolt. "Well, we'll have to catch up later. I'll take Tetsu back first, and then I'll grab you two. Hope you don't mind waiting a bit."

"Not at all." Junior finally broke out of his frozen state. Trek then led Tetsu back, the boy tossing Yami one more questioning glance before disappearing down the hall.

Junior remained standing, almost in disbelief before letting out a long exhale. He then collapsed in his chair, sinking as low as he could go.

"Now who's the guilty… seagull." Yami said, hoping he got Junior's weird wording right.

"Can we be done with surprises for the week?" Junior sighed.

"Constant surprises comes with the knowing-about-me package," Yami said as he too leaned back in his chair.

"Greeeat."

After a minute of more silence and Yami glancing expectantly to Junior, he finally spoke. "I recognize that expression. You want to know what was up with that officer?"

"Only if you want to share."

Junior shrugged, "With you telling your second life story, might as well say a little more of mine." Junior then sat up in his chair. "Aaron Trek was a classmate of mine back when I went to school in Domino."

"Oh?"

"Remember what I was like when I was younger? Before I went to that school for troubled kids?"

"Yeah, you said you found enjoyment in controlling and the pain of oth-oh dear."

Junior ruefully laughed at Yami's realization. "Yep. Aaron was one of the first to figure out the puppeteer of everyone's pain. He tried to stop me on multiple occasions, but at the time, I was pretty good at covering my tracks. He could do nothing but become the biggest target for me." Junior took in a sharp breath. "He withstood so much... In the end, his perseverance finally led him to expose my manipulations to my parents and the school. Ending in me being sent away, for the good and bad that did. Then of course, decades later, he was the one assigned to my case when I stabbed a homeless man. Now here we are again."

Yami turned to the hallway with a bit of trepidation. "Should we be worried about him?"

"I don't think so." Junior sighed as he leaned forward. "Maybe if this happened when I first moved back into the city. Back then, he really… wasn't a fan of me. In fact, I think he was one of the biggest supporters of locking me up and throwing away the key. Over the years of running into him since then, his demeanor slowly changed. Today has been the friendliest he has ever been towards me, and I didn't read any lies in his words or expression. So at least he doesn't see me as a full-on monster anymore. For what truth is in that statement."

Junior then absentmindedly reached for Yami's hair to ruffle it. He quickly put his hand down when he noticed Yami's surprise and glanced at the pharaoh with an apologetic smile. Yami nodded to him to let him know he was forgiven. The pharaoh thought it a little strange, but a small part of him kind of wished Junior went through with it. He quickly buried that odd thought and focused on the hall this Trek went down with Trudge. He was less looking for the policeman and more for his old classmate. This situation felt so familiar to Yami, yet it had an outcome much different from his current one.

"How did Trek's opinion change?" Yami involuntarily asked. Junior glanced at him before looking down the hallway himself.

"I'm not really sure. Time is my best guess. Well, time and my actions reflecting my change." Junior said as Yami turned back to him. "If I had to guess… I've dedicated my life after KaibaCorp to helping others. From the big, government scaring threats, to humanitarian aid to the villages I helped destroy, to even just volunteer work when I am back in Domino city. I've met Aaron a few times over the years during these help missions. We never spoke much, but I believe he's a very 'actions speak louder than words' person." Yami looked to Junior for more explanation, almost begging for it. Then he pulled away, knowing he shouldn't pry. As Yami looked away, Junior kept an eye on him. "You're wondering if you can do that with Tetsu, or some of your other… err… not friends." Junior stumbled, clearly not wanting to use the words "victims."

"Maybe?" Yami whispered. He would love for Tetsu to stop glancing at him like he was some monster, like someone that really was just an empty spirit. Or Ryuichi, or any of his old enemies!

It was only when Yugi wasn't by his side did Yami realize how much it affected him to be seen like that; As something not human. He remembered back to the gas-station where Junior realized he was only a child. While the pharaoh didn't exactly take pride in his mental age (and it did NOT get in the way of saving the world, thank you very much), it was strangely… comforting to be acknowledged as such. It was another reason why he didn't want to be referred to as the Pharaoh right now. It put him on such a pedestal. He should have all the answers, yet he didn't. He should be the rock everyone else on their adventures relied on, yet he made so many terrible mistakes. Those reluctant looks people like Tetsu gave was a constant reminder of that. He was supposed to have all this power, yet he felt so powerless.

Yami hesitated to turn to Junior again. His guilt over his first seven months of his second life had always weighed heavily on him, more than he ever let on to Yugi. He knew that the people he punished were always in the wrong, and even sometimes like in Seto's case, the spirit might have helped. But the guilt never left, it settled like lead in his stomach. What made it worse was the reminder that back then, Yami would have loved for these people to fear him. He drove these people insane. He didn't deserve forgiveness from them.

"You're not bad for wanting closure." Junior's words cut into his thoughts. Yami finally looked to the father. He had an understanding smile, so similar to Yugi's.

"It's natural to want… something, some book ending. I'm very fortunate with Aaron, but it rarely ends like that in these situations. We may work our hardest to prove we've changed and apologize properly, but the other party does not owe us forgiveness. And that's just how it is. I understand it's even worse when you can't make up for it. Either because the other party is gone, it's too dangerous or counterproductive to fix what you've done, or an apology will never be enough. You do have to keep yourself sane and safe, but it always leaves more of a hole. There's sometimes no closure, and you have to find closure in that. Did that make any sense?" Junior asked in a gentle voice. "We've-... You've fought and changed so much from that past time, your continued friendship with Yugi is proof enough of that. And… You deserve to be happy in that thought. "

Yami glanced once again to the hallway Trudge went down, then back to Junior. Yami felt so cold at that moment, and not from the running AC. He remembered back to this morning with Yui, how much better he felt after some physical contact. It was still so strange to Yami, but after years of feeling very little but the cards between his fingers, he wanted more comfort. So slowly, against his better judgment, he leaned over and rested his head on Junior's chest. Junior was at first surprised, even a little worried. But then relaxed as he wrapped his arm around Yami. When Yami pushed into him more, Junior let his hand rest in Yami's hair as he softly ruffled it. Yami closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"I'm so tired," Yami whispered.

"I know," Junior said as he squeezed Yami more to his side.

…

Once Tetsu was done, the two went into the back for their statements. Since Yugi was still a child by law, Junior was there for Yami's account. The entire time Yami held onto Junior's hand below the table. He felt silly for it, he was an all-powerful pharaoh, he shouldn't have been doing something as childish as this. But it felt so good to hold. Yami needed him there, even though the recounting of the night before wasn't particularly scary thanks to the shadow magic wearing off. Yet, he still felt so small. Junior then gave his statements, which Yami had to leave the room for, for some reason. Yami stood quietly in the front hall, waiting for that door to open again. Once it did, Yami walked back and grabbed onto Junior's hand again, the old general happily gripping back.

Aaron seemed adamant about catching up with him. The two talked about simple things like the weather and how each was doing. Soon, Junior's son became the topic of conversation. Aaron was quite happy to see who he thought was Yugi. For one, he didn't think he had seen Yugi since he was a toddler, two because he wanted an autograph for his wife. She apparently was an avid dueler. Yami gave it, thankful he was able to copy Yugi's signature.

As the two adults continued talking, Yami still holding Junior's hand, the pharaoh heard Tetsu's voice just outside. Yami felt as Junior squeezed his hand. Yami looked back to see the two still talking, Junior not breaking his conversation, yet he still noticed Yami stiffen. Yami squeezed back briefly before pulling away. He could handle this. He needed to handle this. He knew he probably wouldn't get the outcome he wanted, but he had to try one more time. Not just for his own sake.

Once outside the room, Yami wasn't sure what he was going to do. Where did he even go in this building? It was Tetsu rushing past with a stack of files that led Yami. He didn't even notice the pharaoh and kept going to a much larger room in the back. This room had many desks, at each was a frantically rushing policeperson— all working through their various disasters. With everyone hurrying about, Yami felt like he was in the way just standing at the doorway.

"Here's your file Lazar," Tetsu said as he shakily balanced his stack and handed a manila file to a shorter man not much older than Tetsu himself.

"Thanks. You're a lifesaver today, student." The young man sighed.

Just then, a much larger woman yelled from the desk farthest in the back. "Get working rookie! If you moved faster, we wouldn't even need to ask this student to stay outside of hours!" Lazar immediately scurried away as Tetsu went around the desks and handed out files. He would then ask if anyone needed something printed out. Most said no and tried to get Tetsu to take a break. Even still, Yami could tell they were all very thankful for Trudge being there. As Tetsu collected another stack of papers to copy, he came face to face with Yami in the doorway. For the first time, neither panicked or grew wild-eyed. There was still an uncomfortable silence, but it wasn't translated physically.

"So, do you help this department often?" Yami started, still unsure of what he was even trying to get at.

"Uh, yeah. It started when I joined a program to see what it was like to work in the police force. There were observation hours needed, and, well, I like to get my hands dirty instead of just watching." Tetsu said with a bit of embarrassment. "I often come by just to help out."

"I think that's really cool. You're obviously helping quite a lot for Aaron to know you so well back there."

Tetsu grew a smile as he held his papers closer to his chest. "Really? You really think so?!" Then a bit of confusion came to his face. "How do you know officer Trek's first name?"

"He was a classmate of my Dad's."

"Of course. Life loves going in a cycle like that…" Tetsu sighed. Another stony silence fell over the two. Yami knew he should just leave Tetsu to his work, but his feet remained planted.

"About last night. I'm sorry I ran like that-" Tetsu began.

"No, it's fine. I wanted you to get out of danger as soon as possible. I should be the one apologizing here-"

"Don't start again." Tetsu cut in a little forcefully. Yami immediately shut his mouth, and the two once again stood quietly. Tetsu eventually shook his head and put his stack of papers on a side table.

"Look, I'm not interested in any information regarding..." Tetsu waved vaguely in Yami's direction. "Whatever mess is going on here. But... I still want to thank you. You really saved Ryuichi and me last night. I know Ryuichi didn't make the best impression, but I promise he's grateful too. He was too deep to talk out of this time. Now that those two are in jail, I hope he can start healing again. I talked to him just this morning, and he's no longer angry from last night, I promise."

"But he's not here giving a statement." Yami pointed out, guessing that Ryuichi was trying to avoid meeting the pharaoh. Not that Yami would blame him.

Tetsu rubbed the back of his head as he gave an embarrassed smile. "Yeah… he… had something going on at this time. He'll give his statement later today." Tetsu's eyes then widened. "Don't tell him I told you that!"

"I understand." Yami waved the comment away. "I'm glad you two are doing better, I truly am." Yami then glanced out at the busy police department. "You want to be a policeman?"

"Of course!" Tetsu's smile returned with a vengeance. "I want to protect people the right way! I can't wait until I can get on the street to help others."

Yami's grin grew when he saw the honest passion in Tetsu's eyes. It held none of the darkness he had seen so long ago on that school roof. He could only hope his own eyes showed none of that darkness either. "Well, I trust your judgment. I'm sure you won't let the scum of this city escape you."

"Yes!" Tetsu just about announced. "Just you watch, I won't let a single one getaway! I'll be the hero this city needs!"

Yami had to back up a bit. Tetsu's excitement was making his headache grow. Though he still smiled. He wished he could do something more than leave Tetsu with only an apology. "Wait. I think I still have your flashlight you dropped last night." Yami suddenly realized. It was still on his bedside table at home.

"Huh? Oh, that? Don't worry about it. I can get more."

"No, I want to give it back. really!"

Tetsu looked at first surprised and a little taken aback. Then he returned to a comfortable smile. "Ok, now's not a good time though with..." He gestured behind him just in time for the two to witness the young policeman from earlier fall flat on his face, papers flying everywhere.

Yami then thought of a crazy idea. "Hey, my family is having a barbeque at the end of the week. Do you want to come to pick it up then? You could even talk to Yugi at that point." Yami added a 'hopefully' in his thoughts.

While Yami was happy to invite him, Tetsu seemed more trepidatious. "A family event? You want me barging in on that?"

"I can invite others." Yami then paused when he found a flaw in his plans. "Like how Yugi already invited his friends. Joey and maybe even Tristan will be there…" He said in a much lower voice. Tetsu echoed his uncertainty with a frown. Meeting the boys he bullied before would probably be a few steps too far for Tetsu. "So maybe not…" Yami sighed.

"Um, you're free to say no to this, but maybe you could come to a dueling club I go to? Just to give back the flashlight, of course. It's a small little group, but my friends would be absolutely ecstatic to see the King of Games there, even if it's for a brief time." Tetsu then paused. "Though it's at a rival shop to your not-grandpa's store…"

"No, no. That's perfect." Yami smiled. Tetsu grinned back as they worked out the details. Once everything was settled, Trek and Junior came over. Both seemed happier than when they came into the station. Everyone said their goodbyes (Tetsu once again announcing how he wouldn't let scum escape him, maybe a little too enthusiastically), and everyone went their separate ways.

"That went well," Junior said as the two stepped into the sunny outside. Yami had to shield his eyes to stop his headache from getting worse. Then Yugi's cellphone rang. It was the game shop's number.

"Hello?" Yami asked as he answered the call.

"Hey, it's Mom. First off, are you safe with all these holograms flying around and getting in people's way?"

"Yes. Both Dad and I are good."

"That's relieving to hear. Secondly, a few of your friends called. They asked if they could come over to the house. I told them friends were always welcome, but I wanted to give you a heads up."

"What is Yui asking about?" Junior asked.

Yugi pulled away from the phone and answered him. "Sounds like Téa and Joey called the shop before Grandpa could get to them." He then leaned back into the phone. "It's fine. We are about to pick them up, actually."

"Oh, are they staying for dinner?"

"I don't think so."

"Ok. Well, do you have the food for the barbeque?"

"We separated from Grandpa, who went to get it while we were at the police station. The police statements went well, by the way."

"That's good! I'm just at home, washing the side of the shop. And I'm sure your father's leaning in so tell him I'm doing it in a completely safe way. I'm using no ladders, and there are no wasp nests this time." As guessed, Junior was trying to listen into the call. He smiled at Yui's comment.

"Ok, we'll be home soon." Yami glanced at Junior for a few moments before speaking again. "We have something important to tell you when we get back. So be ready."

"Oh?" Yui chuckled a little. "Then, I will prepare mentally and emotionally. Love you two." She then hung up.

"We shouldn't keep her waiting," Junior said as he started heading down the hot city streets. Yami once again felt his exhaustion returning. He wouldn't be able to keep up with Junior's normal walking pace. Yami felt too embarrassed at his seeming lack of fitness to ask Junior to slow down. He instead reached out and retook Junior's hand. Junior wordlessly slowed down and walked next to Yami. He too, seemed more relaxed when holding onto Yami. This let the rest of Yami's embarrassment slip away. He held on tight to Junior's side and walked proudly down the street.

...

It was a good ten minutes later that the Muto family car made its way through the traffic. Junior and Yami waved it down, and Grandpa parked on the side of the city road (causing much honking behind him). The two quickly jumped in.

"How did the station go?" Grandpa tried to keep his voice cheery, but Yami could tell he was hiding worry.

"Everything went fine, Dad. We went in, gave our statements, and left." Junior said.

"That's very good for your father's old heart. I'm always worried when you have to go back to the police, even when you aren't the one in cuffs." Grandpa sighed as he forced his way back into the traffic. Junior seemed more focused on how many people Grandpa just cut off than anything his dad said.

"Did you contact Téa and Joey?" Yami asked, raising his voice over the myriad of car horns.

"Yep, they are both waiting for us at the Gardners' residence. I also got the groceries, so we can head straight home." Grandpa said in a bubbly tone before cussing out the next car over for daring to try and switch lanes.

The car ride was (relatively) quiet after that, not an uneasy calm, just a quiet peace as Grandpa focused on not getting them killed. Junior even leaned back and took a quick nap. Though Yami thought it was more likely he chose to sleep so he didn't have to witness his father's driving. Yami found it a little funny. When he rode with Grandpa before, he hadn't been that bad of a driver. Sure, he couldn't quite read the street signs and he tended to race traffic lights, but nothing compared to the mess that was today's drive. Yami hoped it was merely the traffic and that this wasn't a usual near-death experience for Yugi.

As Yami looked out the window at the bustling city, he expected to see wild duel monster holograms. With how crazy they had been on TV, he thought he could at least flag one down and find out what was going on. But to his surprise, there was nothing: not a single duel spirit, hologram or not. Yami grasped his deck pouch, wondering if he should summon Dark Magician. Then he pulled away. Dark Magician needed a break from last night, Yami would wait to call on him.

The car finally made it to Téa's house. Outside Joey and Téa were waiting on the steps and quickly ran to the car. To Yami's growing worry, Red-Eyes wasn't with Joey.

"About time ya got here! I got so worried I even called the shop. I hope I didn't worry your ma too much." Joey smiled as he slid right to Yami's side, giving him a playful shove. Téa following close behind.

"We were nervous when it took so long," Téa added.

"It's the whole hologram hullabaloo that's caused everyone to drive like idiots," Grandpa growled as he pulled back onto the road.

"What's going on with that? Are KaibaCorp's systems going haywire?" Téa asked.

"It's duel spirits, probably from the lockdown," Yami said. Both of his friends turned to him in shock. Yami realized he hadn't explained the situation to the two and quickly rectified that.

"Seriously!? A magic wishin' well took Yugi?" Joey was at first stunned, then leaned back in the seat. "Well, I suppose weirder has happened. I guess we should be happy it wasn't some maniac dis time."

"Don't remind me." Junior sighed as he rubbed his head. "I'm still very much in the disbelief phase at what danger you kids threw yourselves into. Once we get Yugi back, we are sitting you all down and having a long talk on safety." The three glanced worriedly to each other, though there was a bit of hope in their eyes. For the first time in years, non-possessed adults knew what was going on. It was reassuring, even if they were about to get in a whole heap of trouble.

"I just hope Red-Eyes shows up to tell us his plan," Yami said as he looked up into the clear skies.

…

The group made it back to the shop safely, despite the traffic's best attempts. Yui was where she said she would be, pressure washing the sidewalks and sides of the shop. Everyone got out and helped bring groceries into the kitchen. Even Téa and Joey joined in, all without a word to anyone. They had hung around the shop enough these last few years that it was second nature to them.

When Yami was inside putting away food, he suddenly heard Joey exclaim loudly outside. Thinking the Joey had once again tried to carry too many bags and hurt himself, he immediately ran out. Outside Joey seemed fine, but that wasn't what made Yami pause.

"What you doin' here, Ryuichi?!" Joey demanded. It was only because he was holding a mountain of bags that stopped him from stomping right up to the shorter boy.

"None of ya business!" Ryuichi shot back.

"Ryuichi?" Yami gasped from the storefront. At his voice, Ryuichi immediately stiffened. He then quickly shook away his fears and faced Yami.

"I wanted to talk to you, just the spirit. Alone." He said in a much colder voice.

At that moment, Yui came around the corner with the pressure washer still in hand. "What's going on here?" She asked. "Who is this? Another friend?"

"This is Ryuichi, an old classmate of mine-" Yami began.

"Oh, don't be nice, Yami! This jerk helped electrocute me on live TV, then pretended to be Yugi's friend so he could hurt him." Joey growled as he stomped to Yami's side. He then stood in front of him, protectively.

"He what?!" Yui gasped in nonbelief.

"You only got shocked because you pretended to be Yugi to get on that show!" Ryuichi yelled back, though Yami could tell he wasn't as confident with an adult around.

"You were going to electrocute Yugi?!" Yui gulped.

"Look, it was just a show." Ryuichi backtracked, lowering his voice. "It was never deadly levels of current. And the thing about pretending to be Yugi's friend. While that is true, I was being paid by someone else to do it. I never had anything personal against- PHPHPHFF!"

To both Joey and Yami's shock, Yui had turned up the power of her hose and shot straight into Ryuichi's face. While it wasn't levels high enough to cut skin, it was still a pressured hose. Yui's face twisted into a snarl as she forced Ryuichi off the sidewalk and away from the shop. Eventually, Ryuichi had to turn tail and run from the furious mother.

"And stay away from my son!" She shouted before another coughing fit took her words.

Yami and Joey could only stare in utter shock at the little woman with one hand still in a cast. Yami remembered back to a conversation he and his partner had after their first failed attempt to tell Yui the truth. One sentence Yugi said stood out in his mind. "Yeah, if my mom was with us during Battle City, I'm pretty sure she would have stomped right up to Ra and demanded to speak to his manager. And Ra would have had to find someone quick. My mom doesn't like waiting when she's angry."

Yui then turned back to the boys. She quickly grew embarrassed under their staring eyes. "I don't like people taking advantage of my son." She whispered as she wiped her mouth.

Joey's face lit up in a big grin, and he cheered. "Woah! You go, Mrs. Muto!"

Yami kept looking wide-eyed from Yui to where Ryuichi ran. While he agreed he would have liked to power wash Ryuichi at one point, this was not the time for that. "Fuwa!" Yami shouted as he ran after him. Joey looked confused for a few moments but tried to follow as Yui stayed behind. While Yami was grateful that Joey was so willing to follow him blindly, he had to ask him to go back. Joey did as requested, but Yami could tell he didn't like it.

Thankfully, it wasn't long that Yami had to run (in fact he couldn't run long even if he wanted to). He followed the water puddles to find Ryuichi hiding by a dumpster in a nearby alley.

"Are you ok?" Yami asked. When he tried to walk closer to Ryuichi, he jumped away from the pharaoh.

"I'm fine. I'm fine!" Ryuichi grumbled as he wrung out his hair.

"I… I didn't ask her to do that." Yami managed to stammer.

"I could tell. How did the Yugi I know come from her?!" Ryuichi sighed before leaning back on the alley wall.

"You did admit to wanting to electrocute her son. And tricking him with the intent to hurt him. All for money."

"Well, when ya put it like dat, it sounds like everyone should be hosing me down!" Ryuichi said as he turned away, his arms wrapped around his body. His gaze then went to the ground. "I don't know why I came. You should just get back to your family." He shivered.

Once again, Yami found his feet planted firmly in place. He very much doubted he would get anything substantial from staying, but he needed to try. "Hey… Has your luck come back?" Yami asked, grasping at any straws he could.

Ryuichi turned to him with a cold glare. "No."

Yami shifted awkwardly, not knowing what he was expecting. "Where did your luck come from? Is it a family trait, or did you earn it somehow?"

"It's nothin'!" Ryuichi blurted out as he threw his hands in the air. "It's all been rigged since the moment I was chosen for that show. It's all so clear! I was lied to all my freakin' life, dat's all. And I was stupid enough to believe it!" He then leaned up against the wall and slumped to the floor. He wrapped his arms around his legs and looked in every direction but Yami's.

"I don't think so. You had so many miraculous events happen when you were out in everyday life. I also don't think Seto would have hired you if you didn't have some real power." Yami tried.

"Den what happened? You said you didn't take it and…" Ryuichi quickly looked over Yami with another glare before sighing. "And as much as I hate it, I believe you."

Yami clutched the puzzle's chain as he tried to think. It wasn't just because he was missing his magic that he couldn't find Ryuichi's luck. He really had nothing to do with its disappearance, if it was even there to begin with. He wished he had a better answer, but he wasn't about to lie.

Yami leaned down to try and look Ryuichi in the face. "Is it maybe an emotional thing? Non-shadow magic is often controlled by emotions and… well."

"Don't you give me dat, 'it's all from your own heart' crap too. I get enough of dat from the counselin' Tetsu drags me to." Ryuichi then looked up at the clear sky, becoming quiet for many moments. He seemed to fight within himself. His face creased into a snarl, then it disappeared. "Fine! Thank you!"

Yami at first didn't believe the words that came from Ryuichi's mouth. He stayed frozen in surprise as Ryuichi waited for his reaction.

"Don't look at me like dat! It's not like I can't see what you did for me." Ryuichi then buried his head in his legs. "I was in real trouble last night. I was about to get Tetsu hurt…" He whispered. "So… thanks."

"You're welcome. I am happy that you two came out ok. At least, Tetsu didn't seem too affected by it this morning."

"You talked to him?" Ryuichi looked up in genuine surprise. "I…just didn't think you'd have the time while doing your weird… ghosty stuff."

"Yes, we talked quite a bit. I'm even going to his dueling club next week."

"You are? Do ya know how happy dat'll make him?!" Ryuichi stood up with a growing smile. "The King of Games makin' an appearance at deir club? Tetsu will be a hero to his duelin' buddies."

Yami nodded with his own small smile. "Yes, though I don't intend to join the club or anything like that. I'm just returning Tetsu's flashlight."

"Well, who cares about ya?! What dey want is the King of Games! Just don't embarrass Tetsu, or I swear ya won't be able to scare me off with a simple pressure washer." It was about that moment Ryuichi realized he just threatened an ancient pharaoh. Yami had to give him credit; he hid his fear and embarrassment well.

"You care a lot for Tetsu." Yami chuckled as he took a step back.

"Yeah, he's a big idiot, but he's my big idiot," Ryuichi said as he put his hands back in his pockets, not meeting Yami's eyes. "He was the first to reach out to me. My stellar personality didn't seem to attract anyone after I lost my fame. When we both got assigned the night shift, he went out of his way to get to know me." Ryuichi slowly fell into a smile. "He really deserves better dan me, but he's stuck with me now." He seemed to realize who he was talking to and shook his head.

"Anyway, I should get goin'. I don't care about my luck. I just want ya to stay as far away from me as possible. We're even, capeesh? Keep your weird dead spirit stuff to yourself."

"As you wish. I hope things go well for you." Yami said as he waved him off. While this was not how he expected this conversation to go, it was better than he had hoped. Ryuichi only nodded to him before running in the opposite direction, seeming to want to get away from the Pharaoh as fast as he could; Right into a busy street.

"Watch out!" Yami screamed as he saw a truck heading right for Ryuichi.

Just at that moment, a wild Duel Monsters hologram came flying down the street, causing a group of builders pulling a filled trailer up a nearby hill to accidentally disconnect it. It went tumbling down the road. This trailer caused a cart full of farm products to slip out of the owner's hand as he also tried to push it up the hill and out of traffic. The two rolled right into the street, seemingly avoiding every car rushing by, except for the incoming truck. Yami ran to the scene of the crash, expecting to find a horrible wreck. Instead, while the trailer and cart were demolished, the driver and even Ryuichi were completely fine. The movers and cart owner from up the hill came running down to check on the driver and Ryuichi.

"Boy, you were lucky." One of the movers said to Ryuichi. Those words were the one thing to break Ryuichi out of his frozen fear. He looked to Yami with wide eyes and an almost hopeful glance. Yami shrugged and then brought two thumbs up, a perplexed smile on his face. Yami then looked to see if he could find where that duel spirit went, but the thing seemingly disappeared. Just like Ryuichi as the boy fled the scene as quickly as he could. Yami watched the boy run, wondering if this was a sign of supernatural luck or just dumb luck. Maybe Ryuichi needed something akin to closure too. Either way, Yami would respect his wishes, and hopefully never see him again.

After making sure everyone was ok, Yami walked back to the house with a lighter pep in his step. When he got back, Yui immediately mobbed him and apologized profusely for scaring Ryuichi off. Yami repeatedly told her it was fine, but accepted the side hugs she gave happily. They only stopped when the two went inside the house portion of the shop. There they saw everyone on or around the family couch. Grandpa had his yellow notebook, and Téa had the pictures she promised she would bring on her lap. They all looked to Yui with resolve, mixed with a bit of worry.

"What's going on here?" Yui giggled. "So serious. Is this an intervention or something?"

"Not quite," Yami said as he pulled away from her and stood in front of everyone else. "We have something vital to tell you. It's going to sound crazy, but you have to listen to us. We will explain it the best we can."

"What's wrong?" Her voice lowered into a worried pitch. "Yugi-"

"That's the thing. I am not Yugi."

**Alternate Chapter Title: You should have expected Truck-kun! This fic is already an isekai with Yugi going to another world and collecting a group of beautiful girls(?) that fawn over him.**


	25. Hakairyuu

**A/N: I'M BACK! Thank you so much for being patient these last few months. I really needed the break. I hope you all had some lovely holidays.**

**To get back to the story, once again I will be releasing every other Friday. I hope you enjoy this extra-long, released slightly early, character chapter (we'll go to Yami's side of the story next time) as a thank you for being patient. As always I love any comments/reviews big or small. Even if you're just here to say hi or mention what I can do better. I would really appreciate it. Love you all!**

"We don't need mercenaries. Especially from an archetype like yours." A massive warrior known as Buster Blader growled.

"You never know. What we heard on the divine wind was that you're losing Gandora. Perhaps we could help round them up?" A small warrior with a massive silver sword wrote in similarly silver lettering. Hakairyuu, as was her Gandora name, peeked over her tail. She was supposed to be sleeping. Gandora gave off more body heat when resting, thus allowing her clutch of eggs to hatch faster. But how could she sleep with their handler talking so loudly in the nursery? Sure, she was the only dragon there, but with the warrior army so worried about the next generation, she'd think Buster Blader would be a bit quieter. Not that the warriors ever particularly cared about being kind to the Gandora.

"We are not letting any of the beasts escape." Buster once again growled.

"Oh? Then by this empty hatchery, I suppose they are all out in battle?" The little monster wrote.

Buster Blader grumbled and turned from the warrior. Gandora recognized his expression and body language well, he was about to swing his sword at the visiter. But for once in his life, he held back.

"The Gandora are dying out. There's nothing for you to find." Buster Blader started walking away from the warrior with a dismissive hand wave. "They're not even worth your valueless time. Get out. Just letting you in was more of a kindness than the Silents ever gave us in this domain." he then turned in such a way that the sword on his back hit a hanging bucket. It toppled right onto the tiny warrior with a clang. The swordsman threw off the bucket, his expression falling into a deep snarl.

Hakairyuu held her breath, was a duel about to start right next to her eggs? She flinched, they weren't "her" eggs, they were the warriors'. Thank the stars the mind readers weren't here. She had seen other Gandora punished for thinking less rebellious thoughts. She then glanced at the swordsman again. Buster Blader hadn't noticed the warrior's anger. In the Silent's magenta eyes, she saw a deep hatred. Hakairyuu wanted to pull back but had to remain on the eggs below her. She held her breath, preparing to take the stray attacks that would undoubtedly come her way. But to her surprise, the swordsman let out a long sigh, and he was back to being smiles and respect.

"Really? Not worth it? Are they not the only reason your army can get into the dragon territories the 'Great Knights' set up?" The warrior said the Knight's name with as much venom as a viper.

"Ha! Great knights indeed. They were clearly greater than you, Silent Swordsman, for you to stoop so low as to come to us after all your kind did."

Silent Swordsman's face remained a calm smile. "Yet, we Silents never tried to stop your righteous war. Even as the warriors and dragons of other domains begged for you to stop. We at least knew simply putting up borders would never end years of hate, unlike the Knights!" The swordsman's voice raised to a furious shout. But he quickly recomposed himself. "But let's move from that. Perhaps we Silents, a neutral force in this war, could help with what is killing your weapons?"

Buster Blader stopped. He glanced at Hakairyuu, who quickly closed her eyes. "We were finally starting to win this cursed war when we began sending in Gandora. The dragon forces figured that out pretty quick and hired a spellcaster and fiend to spread a plague."

Hakairyuu barely had time to reopen her eyes when the giant warrior roughly shoved her off the clutch and into the cave wall. She had to bite her tongue to stop from yelping. Buster Blader hated any whining, especially from Hakairyuu. She silently watched as he went through (not her's, she had to catch herself) precious eggs. She couldn't fight him, despite being larger than him. Buster Blader's ability plus her stored power being at zero rendered her useless.

In the nest, nearly three-fourths of the eggs were an ashy grey. Hakairyuu couldn't help but gasp when she saw only two eggs were left that were the obsidian black Gandora eggs should be. Buster Blader was also surprised, but it quickly turned to annoyance. He ran a finger over the shell of one of the ashy eggs. Its shell crumbled as if made of sand.

Hakairyuu looked fearfully at Buster Blader. It was supposed to be her job to clean out lost eggs. She thought she felt something off the night before, but she hadn't dared look. Now the remaining eggs were at a higher risk. Buster Blader's red eyes narrowed. He may not have had a mouth, but Hakairyuu recognized the growing rage.

For many years, this disease slowly destroyed every other broodmothers' nests. To the point, most females couldn't even lay eggs anymore. All except eggs from Hakairyuu. They had always survived. It was the only thing that kept her alive. Despite being one of the biggest Gandora, she was horrible at fighting. She would have certainly died in battle if the warriors hadn't kept her back to keep laying eggs. As of recently though, more and more of her eggs had been turning grey. Whatever resistance she had been passing on wasn't working anymore.

Buster Blader's hand started to drift towards his sword, but then he glanced at Silent Swordsman, who was still waiting patiently behind him. He sighed and yanked Hakairyuu down, so she was eye level. "Clean it out." Buster Blader said in a low voice.

Hakairyuu leaped to her feet and frantically pulled out the cold eggs. Her heart sank as she held them close to her chest. These would have been her hatchlings- the warriors' hatchlings.

"I can see that wiping out entire generations." Hakairyuu glanced at Silent Swordsman's words before she stepped out of the cave-like structure. Once outside, with the smog covered sky bearing down on her, she found she couldn't get her feet to move. She glanced back to her nest, at the two eggs remaining. She then saw and heard more of the conversation.

"Let's see... a mysterious disease caused by two different races. Yes, we can help. For the right price." The swordsman wrote.

"Don't you Silents have a spellcaster of your own? The warrior army will pay if they can reverse it." Gandora noticed how Silent Swordsman stiffened slightly at the mention of a Silent spellcaster, but as before, he hid it well enough for Buster Blader not to notice.

"While we do have many powerful Silent spellcasters, they are still young. They haven't even lost their voices yet. Dispelling the disease would take a great deal of finesse. But we do have contacts…"

Hakairyuu couldn't stand to overhear this anymore. While it might mean this horrible epidemic would be over, it did nothing to lift her spirits. With feet made of lead, she traveled along the black rock cliffs typical to the warrior's end of the Crags. The sky above was a mix of smothering grey and blood red. It had always been that color, getting worse as the war grew closer and closer. Gandora vaguely remembered a place where the sky was blue. But that had been when she was but a hatchling. She turned from the sky to the rock below her, watching her steps closely. She currently had magical binders on, meaning she had to be careful not to fall. She couldn't fly, and a slip would mean a half a mile drop until the barrier would stop her fall, abruptly. It's anti-dragon magic surrounded the entire complex in a dome.

As Hakairyuu walked to the lava pits, she slightly perked up as once distant shouts and pained roars grew louder. She looked up to see the barrier briefly separate as a horde of Gandora were forced into the enclosed cliffside.

"Hakairyuu!" The largest of all the male Gandora called from above, his Gandora name being Giga. Hakairyuu breathed a sigh of relief. Her mate had survived yet another campaign. She tried to focus on that instead of the much smaller number of returning Gandora corralled into their cliff dens. A warrior tried to force Giga into a cave, but the dragon ignored her. The warrior seemed ready to summon her magical anti-Gandora webbing, but another warrior stopped her. Giga was as close to a leader as the Gandora were allowed to have. As long as he kept the others in line, he was granted some privileges.

Hakairyuu nodded to Giga and kept walking along the cliffside, not wanting him to see her continued failure. It didn't take his searching eyes long to see the ash eggs. Hakairyuu lowered her head when she saw the pain in Giga's eyes, though he hid his feelings just as quickly as the honey-tongued swordsman from before. It would reduce his fighting spirit to care about lost eggs. Hakairyuu could practically hear his past attempts at raising her own "fighting spirit."

"They were simply too weak to be born." Or "This just means we have to be even stronger for the next clutch." Hakairyuu grumbled at the memory of Giga's attempted motivation. Fighting spirit, fighting spirit. The cursed idea that the warriors had ingrained in their species since they first enslaved them. No Gandora wanted to kill, even with that fighting spirit. A leftover from when the Gandora were at their most powerful, centuries ago. Then they were the chosen partners of a great Pharoah, a surprisingly pacifistic pharaoh for connecting with such destructive dragons. The Gandoras' want to not kill was something the warrior army could never quite get rid of, so they buried it in this twisted fighting spirit. The need for Gandora to prove they were strong, despite being at ATK 0 most of their lives. To the point, they revolved their lives around removing any sign of weakness. Hakairyuu didn't know how the others fell for that ideology so hard. Perhaps whatever immunity she had that let her eggs live was what enabled her to see past the stupidity of it all. Then again, she could just be insane.

Most Gandora simply wanted to prove they were stronger than anything else, yet Hakairyuu didn't even want that. She wanted to be left alone to raise a family in peace. Definitely not the picture of strength the warriors molded for them. That was a dragon that continually went into battle and came back victorious, or at least took out as many others as they could. Most of the hatchlings that came from Hakairyuu soon fell into this need to remove weakness as well — letting the warriors easily manipulate them. While the Gandora wanted out of captivity, they would never fight for it unless an exit fell out of the sky. Running was cowardice, even thinking about escaping lowered their "fighting spirits."

'Am I even a Gandora?' Hakairyuu thought as she came upon the last outcropping of cliffs. The heat from the lava below caught the wind and blew past her. She closed her eyes and for a second imagined flying freely through the air. Then, she opened her arms. She dropped the ashy remains of her latest failures, letting them fall from the cliff face and into the lava pits far below. They could fall through the barrier; they weren't considered dragons anymore.

'Maybe it would be best to let go.' Hakairyuu thought as she stared at the glowing pits. The Gandora could never leave this war that was not theirs. It might be better to let the need to prove her strength, that "fighting spirit" consume her. Then she wouldn't have to think about-

"Mom! Hey, Mom. I lived!" That bubbly, almost casual tone was the only thing that could make Hakairyuu smile. She heard as he flew to her side, she had his smile memorized. A smile she would follow to the ends of the world to see again.

"Hello, little one." Hakairyuu quickly turned from the cliff and picked up her most recent living hatchling. He had no Gandora name at the moment for he had no mate. He was so much bigger than before, nearly being half her size now. She immediately noticed the new scars he had on his once pristine scales and frowned. He often had new injuries thanks to his refusal to follow the law of no familial connections, but even the warriors had since realized they couldn't beat the habit out of him. Him being the last of his age group also dissuaded them from any extreme punishments. His new scars were different; these were unhealed battle wounds. He, however, was smiling wide, his sharp teeth gleaming in the sun. Hakairyuu then noticed an impatient warrior on a higher cliff. The webbing now molded into a whip gripped in her hand.

"We should get you to your den, but how are you doing?" she asked as she led the child up the cliffs.

"Oh, I can't wait to tell you, Mom! We had to take over this wizard village, and…" The little one always skipped the fighting. "Anyway, when we were looking for loot, I found this old book! It had such tiny lettering it was kind of hard to read, but I quickly got the gist of it. It was filled with things like jokes, but instead of laughs at the end, they were questions you had to figure out."

"Riddles."

"Huh?"

"Riddles, those are called riddles, it is something spellcasters and fiends like to make to protect their treasures," Hakairyuu explained.

"Oh! Well, these riddles weren't protecting anything. I spent so long trying to figure them out that Dad had to pull me out of the building. I think I scared him, not reporting for so long." The two were at the younglings' cave at this point, and the warrior guarding the area gestured forcefully for him to go in. "Anyway! Dad and I are safe, and I can't wait to tell you some of those riddles later." Hakairyuu silently nodded at him and took a step back. The cave used to be rather cramped with all the younglings shoved inside. Now it was only this little one.

The orange barrier then activated, separating the two. Hakairyuu rested her hand on it. Her son soon copied her action from his side, though he still smiled wide. That smile, it was the thing that kept Hakairyuu going. To know she wasn't alone in hating this war. To know, at least she didn't fail him like all her other hatchlings. The hatchlings that wouldn't even look at her any more thanks to her low fighting spirit. She felt like she could survive this underworld with him there.

Hakairyuu quickly returned to the nursery. The guards didn't like any free rooming Gandora. When she got back to her nest, she found Buster Blader and Silent Swordsman to be gone. She quickly checked her remaining eggs, only to find a strange slip of paper wedged between them. It was humanoid-sized, so Hakairyuu had to squint to read the silver lettering. Yet, on it read,

_The Domain of the Beasts. A domain in which only monsters of 1500 ATK or lower can enter. It is a land of peace and perfection, for those tired of fighting. This domain will protect its inhabitants from the continual wars going on around them. Special permission can be given from the Three Legendary Knights for passage if one does not fit the conditions._ On the back of this paper was a map of how to get to a portal to the domain. It even seemed to show a fault in the dragon barrier.

Hakairyuu quickly realized she was not supposed to have this, Gandora weren't to know of other domains. Yet, here it was, sitting in her nest. She frantically looked around for somewhere to hide it. She was so focused on looking innocent; she didn't think about how odd it was for a literal map out of her imprisonment to be laying in her nest. But this was it! This is what would finally kick the others into rebellion. A way out, gifted to them by the stars. Thanks to her low fighting spirit many of the others wouldn't listen to her. They would at least listen to Giga though, and she could convince him with this!

As Hakairyuu laid on the clutch, she caught the end of the conversation Silent Swordsman was having with Buster Blader outside.

"Yes, the dragons of this domain did try to hire us to weaken your army, but being a warrior myself, I felt I could never betray my race. Do remember though, if you ever lose these Gandora, we will be happy to chase them down. For a price, of course."

…

'I will _**destroy**_ that wishing well.'

The last few days had been some of Gandora's worst. First, she finally has her child again. Then she gains other comrades, more than just other Gandora. Friends even. But it all came crashing down. Eviscerating any joy she had won and turned it into deep, burning pain.

'_I will make it so that the mountain never existed!'_

Gandora curled up inside a skyscraper-sized, hollow pine tree. This forest had many such trees thanks to the recently reset Gandora-damage. This pine was the only place large enough for her to curl and hide.

It was a few hours ago Gandora ran from the castle. Yet, it felt like days. Her tears had long run out. She was now filled with nothing but boiling anger. She was planning over and over how she would blow the mountain and its cursed wishing well to pieces — taking much pleasure in imagining its rubble. She ignored what it would do to the other monsters in the area, or what Yugi would think of her for wishing such destruction.

_No, I'm not leaving you, Mom!_

You are in no way, my mother.

_Please, be free for me._

I am not your hatchling.

Those words echoed in her head. They hurt. _They hurt_. Just thinking of both their smiles made the pain real again. She was a failure as a mother. So, she drowned their memories in her fury. She let them burn in her hatred for the Silents, the other Gandora, even the unnerving domain.

I am not your hatchling.

I am not your hatchling.

I- "-don't care. We have to do something about her."

Gandora stirred. Beyond the massive tree was a group of monsters trying to hide in the bushes. Each beast was only about the size of one of Gandora's palms. All but one were wearing strange vests made of reflective stripes that glinted in the sun.

"There is no way I'm tryin' to move that dragon!" A stuffed toy dog with a tiny top hat barked. Gandora recognized his species as Madolche Cruffssant, common to the domain next to this one.

"But you have one of the highest attack points in this domain's workforce! I don't need you to move her, just get her attention. I can take it from there." What looked like a living dollop of pink marshmallow said to Madolche Cruffssant. Gandora squinted at the candy monster not wearing a vest. That was Marshmallon, but she couldn't recall why she would know them. They weren't from this area.

"1500 attack ain't gonna do deck against a full dragon! You should call Dark Magician Girl or that pharaoh kid to get her out. Ain't they spirit partners now or somethin'?" The dog growled as he pulled a lollipop from his mouth. The monsters around Marshmallon seemed shocked at Madolche Cruffssant's words. Or, more accurately, they were shocked that he spoke them to Marshmallon.

Marshmallon took it all in stride. They didn't seem the least bit deterred. "I've been through scenarios like this many times before. I know well how it will end. Please just get her attention."

"Well, I don't have yar crazy ability, nor a death wish! What's more, you shouldn't even be tryin' to build at a time like this! For one, this whole domain is entirely too creepy. Two, with those Silents and Gandora rarin' to trade blows, any new construction will be decimated! Three, this star forsaken lockdown will stop us from getting the materials we need!"

"Oh, I believe we have more than enough to build. And I'm sure it won't come to blows. The Pharaoh will stop them long before that happens. I've seen enough prophesied heroes to know the drill." Marshmallon said with a toothy smile. Gandora shuddered, that thing had entirely too many teeth in their mouth.

Just then, a gasp came from one of the other monsters beside Marshmallon. Gandora hadn't realized she had raised her head to look across the clearing. She would have liked to continue pretending to sleep, but what was done was done. All the tiny monsters' eyes bulged when they realized she was awake and listening in on them. She took a sick satisfaction in knowing they feared her. But that joy was checked by Marshmallon, who looked more excited than ever at her presence.

"I am not moving," Gandora growled. She then put her head back down, laying her tail in front of her to block the light. She hoped that they'd run like every other monster that came this way. Only Silent Magician was brave enough to come closer, and even she gave up eventually. Yet, Gandora heard the shaky, unmistakable footsteps of two monsters coming closer.

"Look here! Yar on my boss's property and yar blockin' their work area! All us monsters know how you guys actually have 0 ATK, so…! Move it! Or I'll beat you down!" Madolche Cruffssant barked. Gandora lifted her head with a twisted smile. She saw how the little dog was shaking, so she flicked her tail in his direction. She didn't even touch him before he ran whimpering away. Gandora chuckled to herself at the monster's retreat. Then she noticed Marshmallon's dopey smile still plastered on their face.

Marshmallon hid their rows of teeth as they spoke. "Greetings! Are you ok? Your voice sounds rather raspy for a dragon. Are you sick?"

Gandora's eyes narrowed as she looked down at this minuscule monster. Did this creature really ask how she was doing? She growled and flicked her tail in their direction. She then gritted her teeth as her tail sailed over them, Marshmallon hadn't budged an inch. Gandora tried another warning flick. They still didn't move; they didn't even blink. Gandora snarled and whipped her tail right at the blob, hoping to push them away. Her tail went right through the monster, ripping them in two.

Gandora yelped as the pieces splatted on the ground. She immediately bent down to try to help. She nudged the pieces worriedly, not knowing what to do. Her heart began racing as she had to fight back new tears. Then her building panic abruptly halted, as the pink pieces began to shake. With a plop, the parts reconnected, Marshmallon never losing their smile.

"Don't worry! You can't hurt me. Nothing can." Marshmallon said in what was supposed to be a cheery voice, but Gandora heard an undercurrent of deep fatigue. However, that thought was pushed aside under her wave of relief. She almost smiled before she caught herself. She could care less about this world or its monsters. It deserved to all be rubble anyway.

"I think you should go," Gandora said in a low voice.

"You're not sick, huh? Must have been crying then. Are you lost? Were you separated from the Pharaoh?"

"I have nothing to do with that boy! I really think you should go." Gandora growled, deciding it was time she showed her own set of razor teeth. To the candy monster's credit, they didn't flinch, but they did back up.

"Well, I would like too, but you're blocking our work zone."

Gandora blinked, not recognizing the phrase. She looked around the large hollow area. "Work zone? Do you mean your den?"

"Oh, no, no. Or at least it won't be my den. My home is in the Clear World." Marshmallon said. Gandora's eyes widened as she was the one to back up this time. The Clear World was one of the most dangerous domains. An ethereal plane only the strongest monsters lived. Marshmallon must have seen her surprise because they chuckled

"Well, it's where I was created. I don't visit it much these days. Not when there are projects and villages to build." Gandora could only stare at the little creature once again. Villages? She thought only humanoid monsters made things like "villages." Gandora's anger was briefly forgotten in her utter confusion at just what in the star's guiding light Marshmallon was. If they were trying to trick her, why make all these outlandish lies?

"Why are you here? The humanoids of this domain already have a village."

"I am Marshmallon. You may have heard of my many great exploits, like collecting the eleven treasures of the dimensions?" Gandora remained silent. "Finder of the three rifts?" Still nothing. "Inventor and perfecter of transportable magic?" Gandora huffed, letting her warm breath coil over the monster. "Right… Well, those titles might be a bit old for you. You young folk might know me better as the great builder."

Gandora's tail swiped back and forth. While this was the first time she would be considered "too young" for something, she did recognize that title. Something the warriors used to talk about, usually either during jokes or in hushed breaths. "I may have heard of that."

"There we go." Marshmallon regained their smile. They then whistled to the monsters in the back. Two looked frozen with fear, but another high-pitched whistle made them run forward. They quickly threw glitter confetti around their boss as Marshmallon continued. "After years of doing everything the dimensions had to offer, I reached my limit. I saw all there was to see and had done just as much. So I, being the kind monster I am, set about making the world a more interesting place!" They proclaimed as if they were announcing they had just saved the universe from absolute disaster. "I build what others cannot. What is stuck in one dimension I recreate in another. All in the name of making the dimensions more connected."

Gandora watched as those scared workers continued to throw confetti as Marshmallon pontificated, in utter awe. This had to be the most idiotic monster she had met. Yet she didn't sense insincerity or stupidity in them.

A piece of confetti finding its way into Gandora's nose cut off Marshmallon's continuing monologue. While their workers were blown back by the dragon's sneeze, Marshmallon managed to stay in place, even with no limbs to hold them.

"The leader of this beautiful domain has asked me to turn this tree into a human-like town. Humanoids here already have a village to the north. But I'm to understand most non-humanoids don't go to that specific village — something about it being the birthplace of a rather nasty archetype. Dark Magician Girl wanted something for those too weak to spend their energy to go to the human world. A human place they could live in and explore. And thus, we return to you." Marshmallon said, looking up the hollow tree. Gandora followed their gaze. Above she noticed a few wooden walkways connected to some stairs that circled the entire tree's height.

"You're building at a time like this?" Gandora had to ask.

This comment seemed only to make Marshmallon grin wider. "You'll find I'm a determined sort." They said. Once again, Gandora could only stare.

"I'm not moving." She reiterated, all her earlier anger returned.

"You don't have to," Marshmallon said. Gandora was taken back. Weren't they going to force her? "I don't mind you resting here if that makes you feel better. We will be working above you, so if you move a smidge to the right and don't mind some construction, we can get on our way."

Gandora glanced behind her. Sure enough, there was a little crafted stairway leading up the tree's trunk. She then glanced down at the still smiling Marshmallon. She was stuck in a confusing state of wanting to snarl at the monster, and fall over laughing at them. It was silent for many moments between them. Then, Gandora grunted as she shifted to one side of the hollow trunk.

"Thank you." Marshmallon gave a slight bow before hopping back towards the clearing. "We'll do our best to give you space."

"You better." Gandora rumbled. She looked over the little monster one more time before reluctantly murmuring her approval and laying back down.

Pretty soon, Marshmallon was back with the slightly shaking Madolche Cruffssant and many other small monsters. They all had various bags filled with a liquid-like magic Gandora had never seen before. The magic reflected the world around it like a solid mirror, yet it sloshed in their sacks. Gandora tried to hide her sudden interest as she listened to them plan.

They did as Marshmallon had promised and gave her a wide berth when they eventually made their way up the tree, Marshmallon staying on the bottom to direct. Then multicolored sparks started flashing above her. Gandora couldn't help but stare as these tiny monsters suddenly had entire walls or doors they didn't have before. They then used some of the more magically inclined monsters to levitate the pieces into the tree's wall. They used the flashes created by the magic, and the light reflected off their vests to communicate quickly. They tried to do this as quietly as possible, though, Madolche Cruffssant did let a few choice words fly when one of the monsters accidentally teleported a whole wall on the dog's foot.

Gandora tried to ignore them and return to her revenge plans. Yet, she kept glancing up to watch the monsters slowly move up the carved stairs, leaving entire buildings and streets attached to the trunk. She never had space where she could decorate or change as these monsters had. In fact, she had never seen construction like this before, period. With their teleportation magic, they were able to summon whole building pieces and connect them to the inside of the tree. Then they would create pathways between the buildings. Some even stretching across to the other side of the trunk.

"Roads." Gandora whisper to herself. She couldn't keep her eyes off the growth.

"Since most domains are filled with endless fighting, or monthly resets that set back long-term projects, building in the human style is often made with premade pieces. All to be quickly teleported in." Gandora turned to see Marshmallon talking to her as they looked over a clipboard. A clipboard they didn't have a few seconds ago and somehow held in their rolls of fluff.

"What?" Gandora asked.

"You seemed interested. Well, not just interested, enraptured." Marshmallon said. "And, I do love describing the process I helped perfect."

Gandora blinked and looked back up. "How does that magic work? Why don't they use it to teleport themselves?"

"Oh, I can't tell you the details there, trade secret. But I can say this, that magic doesn't quite work on living things. It'll randomly teleport them somewhere in the domain instead of our controlled placement. Could never quite calculate where they'd end up. You'll have to rely on spellcasters if you want that kind of power."

Gandora grunted in acknowledgment as she kept staring at the teamwork between the monsters. She then swallowed hard.

"May I ask why you're so interested in construction? Most monsters find it quite boring." Marshmallon asked as they not so slyly scooted closer to Gandora. The clipboard was suddenly gone in a flash of pink light.

Gandora remained quiet for a couple of heartbeats before slowly opening her mouth. "I'm of the archetype, Gandora the Dragon of Destruction. I...we... we don't build much."

"Oh," Marshmallon said in a softer voice, nodding their head. They then looked up the tree trunk, then back to Gandora. They did this in a cycle for about a minute. Gandora realized that the little monster was debating something. She stiffened, were they finally going to force her to leave?

"You know, you could join in if you wanted." Marshmallon slowly began, the most unsure they sounded the entire day. "Most of the roads haven't been built yet, and since we have no winged beast today, you holding them up while we cement them in will speed up the process." Gandora stared down the candy monster incredulously. At this point, the workers above had heard Marshmallon's offer, and all froze. Gandora could feel their eyes burning through the back of her head. "It could be good practice for creating instead of destruction?" Marshmallon added.

Gandora paused. "Create?"

"Ah, sure." It was clear on Marshmallon's face they didn't think that would work. "I mean… I thought a fellow construction enthusiast might like to get their hands dirty?" Gandora's eyes narrowed. This, said by the monster who had been ordering everyone else around all day. They didn't even have hands to get dirty.

"Very few creatures are as accommodating as you are right now. Especially to an archetype that just decimated most of the domain." She waited for Marshmallon to look guilty or back down. But instead, their grin slowly returned, rows of sharp teeth and all.

"Any destruction has been since reversed and… Maybe I've lived so long I'm tired of all the hatred and mistrust that gets thrown around. Maybe I want to know better a fellow building enthusiast." They said, gaining that theatrical gravitas to their voice again. Gandora narrowed her eyes further. "Or, maybe I rather keep a reportedly dangerous dragon busy. Specifically, when I'm behind schedule and have no monsters over 1500 attack on my workforce." They said in their normal squeaky voice. "Whichever reasoning you believe more." To that, Gandora grumbled but accepted. They were trying to get free labor.

"Watch out!" Above, one of the workers was distracted by the two's conversation. She hadn't noticed as the bag strapped to her side tipped too far. The liquid magic spilled out in a large puddle before it sparked.

In a flash, a whole storefront appeared too far from the walkways. It only floated a moment before tumbling down towards the bottom. Marshmallon could only look up in horror as Gandora immediately went into action. She sprang up and caught the falling store. Despite its small size, it was incredibly dense. She felt as the force of the catch shook her body. Her knees were about to collapse when her orbs began to glow. The pain was converted into power, enough to lift the storefront like it was nothing. She then fully stood up and glared at the trembling monster that dared drop a store on her. She snorted and looked to the location they were trying to place the store. There were grooves carved into the tree for specific peg-like studs in the store walls to connect.

Gandora started to push the store into place when she paused. She could easily crush this. She then looked to her sharp claws, corded muscles, and glowing orbs. She was made to destroy; it was wired into her every cell and need. In fact, she would need to destroy soon to stop herself from building too much energy. But hadn't that been her flaw before, her inability to be a true Gandora? She never seemed to live up to the embodiment of destruction the other dragons did. That fighting spirit...

With a slight tug at her lips, Gandora slowly connected the building into its place on the tree. Imagining as if she was moving fragile eggs. When she removed her claws, the building stayed firmly attached to the tree wall. She then glanced at the other monsters staring at her.

"Aren't you going to connect it to the tree fully?" She asked. This seemed to wake the monsters up, and they ran over to better cement the building into place.

"That was amazing!" Marshmallon cheered as Gandora sat down on the bottom level. She looked over the strange little monster, somehow being both childish and yet probably older than she could imagine if they were to be believed.

"You really want my help?" She asked dubiously.

"Sure! I knew you could help us the moment I saw your reaction to cutting me in half." Marshmallon grinned as they started hopping towards the stairs. "You'll be working with Madolche Cruffssant and the road team-"

Gandora didn't know what to say. She listened as they explained her role in shocked silence. A small part wanted to go back to brooding in the corner, but Gandora couldn't do it. She needed to move. She needed to forget those words.

I am not your hatchling.

…

"Over to the left."

Gandora inched the large wall to the left, which was harder than it sounded as she couldn't see her path. She was stretched out on her tiptoes as she attempted to move the building into place. Her view was blocked by the crisscrossing walkways that now stretched all over the inside of the massive trunk. She had to rely entirely on the other workers and her ability to be gentle.

Working with these other monsters had been interesting, to put it mildly. They all worked like a well-oiled machine archetype. At first, Gandora seemed to wreck this. The others didn't know how to tell her what to do — making any project end in silent chaos. But Marshmallon lived up to their declaration of being a determined sort. They forced their workers to talk to Gandora and continually told them how kind and hardworking she was (despite not knowing the truth of that statement themself). She even thought she heard them whisper they'd give raises to those that spoke to her. As time went on, it became more comfortable for everyone. The other workers began to trust her more, especially when she saved many of them when a walkway collapsed. A few even started to joke with Gandora, be it be very strained jokes.

Even if Gandora couldn't understand why they warmed up to her so fast, let alone be kind to her, Gandora found she liked this — working with others to build instead of coordinating to destroy. The labor turned out to be another bonus. Anytime her thoughts dared wander towards the past or her failures, she simply threw herself into the next task. A static numb covered her mind. She was creating, not destroying. _Creating_.

"Stop! Now hold it there."

Gandora grunted, she was now balancing on one foot to get the right height for the building. If she fell, she would take down many walkways and even full buildings with her. The monsters were fast thankfully, and once she heard the adhesion spell uttered, she carefully collapsed at the ground level.

"And I thought it was going to take much longer to get to this point." Marshmallon's voice came from outside the trunk. Gandora didn't open her eyes and tried to focus on the warm light. "I really do have to thank you. You turned a big production into a breeze." Marshmallon said as they hopped closer.

"When do we get more buildings, or are we constructing more walkways?" Gandora asked without opening an eye.

"We're taking a break!" Madolche Cruffssant yelled from above. This forced Gandora's eyes open.

"We must keep going." Gandora gasped.

"While I applaud the work ethic, I don't believe we can keep up with your pace anymore," Marshmallon said. Gandora noticed that new monsters had set up a few tables of food and drinks in the clearing outside the tree. She then looked up at the nearly constructed village.

"But we are so close to being done."

"I know, all thanks to you, but we must rest. I suggest you do too. Not even a monster as great as I can work forever,"

Gandora looked down at the little pink blob with wide eyes. "I-We have to keep working."

Gandora heard as footsteps on her newly constructed walkways signaled her losing battle. The monsters still gave her some distance as they passed. Though they did smile in her direction. One even warned her that kids would be coming, and he would be happy (well, happily uncomfortable) to introduce her to them. Apparently, it was a tradition for the children of these workers to come for the midday meal. Gandora declined and was relieved when they took no offense. She really did need space at that moment. Her shining orbs were proof of that.

The food provided was much too small for Gandora, not that she was hungry. She felt a stronger urge. It was only because she had stopped her frantic pace that she noticed how close her built-up power was to erupting. She first made sure the other monsters were really done for the moment, then started heading into the forest. She was almost gone when a group of children ran up to the workers — all without seeing her.

"Is it true?! Is there really a Gandora here?" One of the child monsters asked. It was only then the kids noticed Gandora. Each grew just as bug-eyed as the adults when they first saw her. Gandora gave an awkward wave and attempted to smile without showing her teeth. She didn't want to scare them. From their fearful reactions (including hiding behind adults or trying to start attacks that ended up blowing up in their faces), she might have frightened them more.

"Don't worry. Marshmallon said she was a good Gandora. And so far, she has been." One of the workers said as they collected the kids and ushered them to their respective parents. "Come, little ones."

"Little one." Gandora unconsciously whispered. They really thought she was good? She took a step towards the group, then stopped and shook her head. She turned and headed for the forest. Her emotions made the need to explode even more intense. This had been very reckless of her. She was a grown Gandora. She should have known better when she needed to destroy, instead of holding off for so long.

"Marshmallon, can you make the other Gandora good too? I want to go to the ravines again," A puppy asked. Gandora froze mid-step. She didn't even notice as her ruby orbs started to dim.

"Oh, well…" Marshmallon stuttered, they're unflappability finally falling as they glanced at Gandora. "I didn't make this Gandora do anything."

"There are no good or bad Gandora," She said in a low voice. Her rumble slightly vibrating the table. "Just stupid ones that don't understand they shouldn't treat others the way they were, simply because they are the stronger ones now."

"Right! That's an excellent lesson for anyone. See? She is simply a nice monster." Marshmallon said.

"Oh, is that why the Pharaoh took her as a spirit partner?" The puppy asked. All the monsters froze. That had been the one question they all had but were too smart to ask.

"He isn't my partner!" Gandora turned around and roared, ignoring the tears pricking her eyes.

Immediately all the children were pushed behind the adults as the higher ATK monsters stood in front.

"Hey, let's calm down now." Marshmallon quickly hopped in front of everyone. "Let's just eat and get ready to start building again. Make sure you don't drop your bags of magic. We don't want more accidents."

Gandora watched as the children were ushered away. Marshmallon was distracting her so they could get the kids to safety. She released her gritted teeth as she realized what this looked like. "I-I," she wanted to apologize, but the growing heat inside her was becoming suffocating. "I have to go." Gandora immediately turned from the shocked workers. She had to get away before she-

There was Dark Magician Girls castle, a clearing in the trees let Gandora see straight to it. She hadn't looked at it since her flight from it. The castle was built in two parts, being connected by a few hallways lined with glass. And there, in one large window, was Yugi. He was talking and laughing with Silent Magician. Gandora's entire body froze, even as she was put under unimaginable pressure.

That smile.

"Are you ok?" Marshmallon asked as they hopped to Gandora. When Gandora kept staring at the castle, they tried to get her attention by bumping into her foot. By the time Gandora realized Marshmallon's mistake, it was too late. Gandora was technically a 0 ATK monster, Marshmallon's measly 300 ATK was enough to be considered an attack. Gandora absorbed the pat as damage. And as such, her body turned it into a tiny amount of power. A power she could no longer contain.

Gandora's orbs lost all their light and turned a deep black. Then each shot out a streak of crimson light, Gandora could only roar in pain as her body forcibly exploded around her.

…

"We're almost to the border!" Giga shouted as what was left of the Gandora flew through a stormy valley. Just as Hakairyuu's mysterious map had shown, the portal that led to their escape was only a few miles ahead. They could see it glowing in the mountainside, even through the torrential downpour. They were almost there.

"Watch out!" The warning of the falling boulders came too late for Hakairyuu. She didn't even see the Giant Soldiers of Stone as they flung their attacks at the fleeing Gandora. Hakairyuu didn't have time to think about why the giants would be so angry at them. Or even why they seemed to all be waiting at the top of this one valley for them. Instead, she had to focus on not being crushed.

The other Gandora were much faster than her and more adept at flying. Thus they were able to weave through the storm of rocks. Hakairyuu tried to power through the hits, even glowing a bright crimson, but it was a large rock the size of her body that ended those plans. Hakairyuu did indeed explode, but the force was suppressed by the thrown boulder and was soon joined by more chunks. Hakairyuu was being buried alive, all her strength wasted in her accidental explosion.

Hakairyuu watched as the other Gandora escaped, a small part begging for them to come back, another thankful that they were going to be free. A lightning strike made Hakairyuu close her eyes. She wasn't planning on opening them again until a voice broke through the storm.

"No! I'm not leaving you, Mom!"

Hakairyuu's eyes popped open as her little one fought his way back to her. He could dodge the attacks while getting to her, but once he stopped to move boulders aside, he was taking hit after hit.

"Please go! I'll be fine!" Hakairyuu tried, but her child merely shook his head.

"No." He said with absolute determination. There was no room for argument in his words.

Just then, a great shadow covered the two. Hakairyuu watched in horror as the largest of the giants seemed to rip a nearby mountain peak and throw it at the two. Her child saw it too. He stood still, despite Hakairyuu's continued pleas. She watched in horror as his orbs glowed their brightest, making them shine almost white. This wasn't an ordinary explosion. This was a Gandora's most potent attack. Their death detonation.

"Please, be free for me?" It was all he said before he went flying towards the coming attack. Another lightning strike added to his massive blast. The rocks that were once burying Hakairyuu became her shield as they took the brunt of the explosion and dissolved. The last she saw of her hatchling was white light.

Hakairyuu didn't know how she caught up to the rest of the Gandora. She was too numb. She had done it again, she had failed. She had lost another loved one, and not even in the war. It was her own weakness and escape plan that took him. It was all her fault.

She didn't react when the Giant Soldiers of Stone ran away, or when three humanoids wearing plate armor suddenly appeared. The Gandoras' protests as the three blocked off their exit was nothing more than dull buzzing in her ears. She didn't even blink as the knight missing an eye pointed at her. It was only Giga shaking her that made her realize.

A way out. She was the only one with a way out.

She could see it in Giga's face. He didn't expect her to leave them behind. To abandon them. But at that moment, she didn't care. She silently pulled away from him and walked through the portal, roars of betrayal sounding flat.

When Hakairyuu found herself in the unnervingly perfect domain, with a blue sky once again above her head, she still didn't feel a thing. She was hollow. Cut open and left to bleed in the shining domain. But she didn't stay hollow. No, that'd be too kind. The coming month on that mountain, she was slowly, forcibly, filled. Guilt over her lost child. Guilt over her abandoned people. Guilt for being born. She couldn't stand it anymore. She couldn't even look at herself in the river without the sickly pain flooding back.

So, she made her way to the wishing well that was on the top of the mountain. She heard about it from the chattering Ivy Tokens when they didn't know she was there. She had even secretly listened to the littler dragons' gossip about the well's guardian. She put on the mask of what a dragon of destruction should be. She would fight, threaten, and beg if it required. She would be the picture of what a strong Gandora was. Even if she lost herself in the process. As far as she was concerned Hakairyuu had already died. It was just Gandora now.

…

Gandora came too in an ash-covered scar. She quickly looked around and recognized that this was once the clearing that surrounded the skyscraper trees. She then frantically searched for any of the other workers, not caring about the damage done to her body in the accidental explosion. Every muscle screamed at her, and she welcomed the pain.

When Gandora found no sign of the little duel spirits, her heart stopped. Not even Marshmallon. Had she…?

Gandora's eyes then locked on something that seemed to rip the rest of her hope out of her chest. The great hollow tree, the tree they had worked so hard to fill, had fallen. Its large size created its own path of destruction when it fell. Building scraps mixed with blackened bark littered the grey clearing. Gandora stood frozen, a war of fire and ice raging inside her. Then her tears returned, her whole-body shivered as she forced herself to move.

She ran over to the tree as if she could somehow put it back together. She picked up random pieces and with blurry vision tried to fix this. Every time the pieces touch, they crumbled into dust in her hand. As she looked at the crumbling remains in her hand, what should have been an internal meltdown suddenly stopped. Her gaze slowly raised as she surveyed the destroyed area. This was her work, her power. Her _only_ power. Her "fighting spirit."

"Gandora!"

Gandora didn't move, not even as the distant rumbling of a Kuriboh stampede came closer. What was that little human to her? It wasn't her son, and now, he certainly was not a comrade or friend, whatever that little being had called it before.

Back on the mountainside, when Giga first brought her to fight Yugi, her ex-mate was trying to help. To prove to her people that she wasn't a cowardice traitor that only saved them because she couldn't live with her failures alone. It was the first time in Gandora's life that she actively tried to fight someone that wasn't the original attacker. She had thought maybe, just maybe, she could drown herself in this fighting spirit. Perhaps then her faults wouldn't hurt. She had tried to keep this façade up the mountain, even after she rescued the group. Yet, that boy's kindness made it all fall away. He and his friends made her feel for once in her life that maybe she was worth something more than a failed egg maker.

Yet, where did that get her?

"Gandora! We were so worried about you!" The boy yelled. Gandora didn't react as the whole clearing was filled with multicolored puffballs. She didn't turn to read Silent Magician's writing, even as it flickered right in her face. Another sign of the dragon's failings. If she could have been stronger on the mountain top, maybe the mage's magic wouldn't be this faint. A sign of lasting damage done to the spellcaster. "Gandora?" She felt as the boy touched her side. She didn't acknowledge him, yet he kept persisting. Her boiling rage had long since frozen over. Everything was cold. Everything was an enemy.

She snarled, and this time didn't do a warning flick as she used her tail to whip him away. He was human, a famously frail race. She wasn't surprised when someone of her strength made him go flying across the clearing

"What's wrong with you?!" Gandora couldn't help but read those flickering letters this time as the mage ran to the boy's side, a brown Kuriboh following suit.

This was it. It was time to forgo these attempts at being anything other than what a Gandora was. A dragon of destruction. Not a friend, not a mother, not even a duel spirit. A monster of pure destruction. Gandora turned with teeth-bared. A true monster of destruction couldn't have connections like these three were trying to make. She turned with the resolution to make them leave and never come back. To make them pay for causing her pain!

Then there he was.

Yugi's wide eyes, that worried frown. Not caring about being attacked, not even concerned about the clearly angry dragon with dangerous intent. So was the little mage, the same archetype that was currently hunting her people down. She looked up at the great dragon as she helped Yugi to his feet, the same look in her eyes. The Kuriboh stood tall under the dragon's gaze, even with their inability to communicate in a way she understood. They were all worried, for her. They wanted to still stand by her, despite her failures. Then Yugi smiled. A gentle smile that Gandora would follow to the ends of the earth to see again.

Why did she fail at everything she ever tried? She couldn't even be a monster.

Hakairyuu collapsed, letting all her pain flood in. Her tears flowed as Kuriboh, Silent Magician, and Yugi immediately ran to her, no fear or hesitation. She continued to sob as she clung onto them like her soul depended on it. Because it truly did.


	26. The Similarities Between There and Here

"That's the thing. I am not Yugi."

It seemed Yami had been saying that quite a bit these last few days. It was almost liberating to repeat. He wasn't Yugi. He wasn't some darker, hidden side, or ancient magic made in the mirror of Yugi. He was his own person. As he continued to explain this one more time to Yui, with everyone backing him, he could think it confidently. _He wasn't Yugi._ He was Yami, or the Nameless Pharaoh, or something else entirely. It didn't matter at that moment as finally, everyone he cared for knew the truth.

Yet, he wasn't happier for it.

"-And this picture was taken initially by KaibaCorp for promotional reasons. It's of the finalists of Battle City. We were on Kaiba's blimp, and you can even see the Millennium Rod slightly poking out behind Marik." Téa explained as she handed yet another photo to Yui. Téa spoke gently with a smile on her face. Like she was simply showing a friend her vacation photos, not pictures trying to prove that they had repeatedly thrown themselves at maniacs. Yui was sitting on a chair across from the group on the couch. Yami didn't miss how she put a coffee table between her and the clearly insane people. Her continued silence did not raise his spirits either.

When Yami first started explaining who he was and how he and Yugi came together, Yui had laughed at him. She swore this had to be some joke. That laugh destroyed more of Yami's confidence than any villain had managed to do. Then the others jumped in, explaining their sides of the story.

Junior eventually asked Yami to do a bit of magic for proof of their more... outlandish claims. Yami was hesitant since his last use of the stone puzzle had some nasty side effects. But when Yui started aggressively arguing with everyone that there couldn't be magic out there, the pharaoh sighed. He magically levitated the puzzle still around his neck, the glowing eye on his forehead returning briefly. It was only for a few seconds, but in that brief time, the whole room felt the sickening darkness that radiated from the artifact. Yami hoped the minuscule amount of shadow magic wouldn't come back to bite him, but it did its job. Yui's confused, almost insulted expression disappeared in an instant. Instead, a vacant stare followed her silence. Yui didn't say a word for the rest of the explanation. She would merely nod, even when Grandpa or Junior talked to her. Yami knew it was a lot to take in, but he couldn't help the sinking feeling in his chest. The way she kept glancing at him, like he was a late-night intruder, made him wish he could disappear behind Yugi once again.

Once the group had caught Yui up to speed, ending with Red-Eyes's plan, they waited. Each held their breath as they watched to see what she would do. Once Yui realized they were waiting for her to speak, she blinked a few times and asked to see the photos again. She was given the small number of photographs, and she wordlessly looked at each picture, scrutinizing them carefully. Once she had flipped through them multiple times, she looked back up to the group.

"This… This really isn't a joke, is it?" She said in a defeated voice.

"Do you think we'd joke about something like this?" Junior asked.

"No… No, I suppose you wouldn't. Maybe Grandpa would, but not you, honey." She whispered. She then looked to Grandpa. A faint, almost desperate chuckle came to her next words. "Though, I guess those spooky stories you used to tell of your escapades weren't really jokes either, were they?"

Grandpa shrugged and gave a lopsided smile. "Eh, a good storyteller always sprinkles in a lick of truth. How large that lick has to be is hotly debated in the old folks' community." While Grandpa's desired effect may have been to make Yui smile, all she did was swallow hard. Then her pastel eyes landed on Yami, who was sitting between Joey and Téa. It felt like she was staring into his very soul. As Yami shrunk under her gaze, he felt both his hands taken by one of his friends. Téa merely rested on his left hand, and Joey gripped his right. This comfort let Yami take a deep breath and give a small smile back to Yui. This seemed to snap Yui back to reality as her faraway gaze disappeared and was replaced with a furrowed brow.

"You're an ancient Egyptian spirit and… You often took over for Yugi?" Yui asked in a small voice.

"Yes, I am. We switched places only when Yugi wanted." Yami then paused. While he wished he could end the thought there, he couldn't lie. Not with her looking at him like that. "Most of the time." He felt as each of his friends' grips tightened.

"Most of the time?" While Yui's voice remained soft, it dipped into a threatening tone that made Yami shiver.

"Remember, in the beginning Yami didn't have a lot of context. He was kind of like a confused baby." Téa then quickly added when both Yami and Yui gave her a sideways glare. "Even then, he only took over when Yugi was really hurt or scared. And all this was years ago. Since then, the two have worked hard to understand and cooperate with each other."

"You've always givin' the body back when Yugi wanted it, right?" Joey added.

Yami's face fell as he squeezed both his friends' hands. He then shook his head. There were moments during Battle City and the Seal of the Orichalcos where he had gone against Yugi's wants. He couldn't in full confidence say he never used Yugi's body against the boy's will, even in recent years.

"But those moments were a long time ago, right?" Téa's voice raised a few octaves. Yami didn't respond.

"You're not helpin' yourself here buddy," Joey whispered to him. Grandpa and Junior seemed just as worried but said nothing.

Yami again didn't move. He instead slowly raised his eyes to meet Yui's. The mother seemed ready to go on the attack. The same snarl she had on her face when she hosed down Fuwa soon returned. Yami could read it in her wide eyes. _You're not Yugi._ And while Yami was thrilled to no longer be just Yugi in the eyes of others, another feeling was spreading a chill through him. _You are not my son. You used my son!_ Yami sunk lower as he remembered the hug that he needed so badly this morning. Along with seemingly using the son she was very protective of, Yui had been tricked into giving her love to a complete stranger. It would be yet another nail in his coffin for Yui.

The room had grown quiet as Yami put his head down to prepare for Yui's righteous anger. He wasn't Yugi…

"I'm sorry. You must be so scared." Yui's words finally came. Yami shot up in surprise. Her snarl had disappeared. Instead, she held her hand to her chest as she again looked over the boy in front of her.

Yami pulled away from his friends and clutched the stone item around his neck, nearly copying Yui's posture. "Scared?" Yami repeated. That had been something Junior mentioned too when he realized who Yami was. Was that just plastered on his face? He wasn't scared! He was confused, yes, and maybe a little lonely, but definitely not something like scared. His face scrunched up in indignation. At this, Yui managed a smile.

"Oh, don't be like that. You know what I mean. Having to admit everything to us, the good and... the bad. This all must be a bit much for you." She said.

"A bit much for me?! You're the one that has to suddenly take in all these facts about… well… everything?" Yami said, a very undignified squeak working its way into his usually controlled voice.

"Yes, it is… shocking, to say the least." Yui said as she slumped in her chair, her eyes not leaving her lap. "But the thing is… I think I already knew?"

"You did?!" Junior gasped. Yui then glanced at him with an expression Yami couldn't read. Junior must have recognized it because he immediately shrunk back. "Of course you did." he quickly added.

Yui smiled and shook her head as she turned back to Yami. "I've been stumbling upon Yugi happily chatting to seemingly thin air for years now. I'm also sure I talked to you directly on days where Yugi was nervous or feeling sick. There was always such a change in him those times. While I never thought spirits I…" She then massaged her forehead. "No, I knew it was a spirit or something like that. If I hadn't, I would have sent Yugi to get some mental help much sooner instead of debating with Grandpa for years."

Yami sat stunned. He didn't know what to do, cheer, run, laugh? Yet, his sinking heart didn't surface again. "But we tried to tell you before!" Yami blurted. "You… didn't take it well then…"

Yui's gaze fell. "I suppose you two did." Her arms then wrapped around herself as if she was cold. "I think… I think I was scared at the time. As you said, it's a lot to take in. It was easier to pretend I didn't understand what you two were saying than face, well…" she gestured around vaguely. "You did just drop on me that there is indeed, an afterlife, other dimensions filled with card spirits, and world-destroying beasts that can attack at any moment..." Yui's eyes widened as the weight of what she said settled on her shoulders. For a moment, it looked like she would panic, Junior and Grandpa even seemed ready for it. But then she shook it away. Instead, she dropped her arms to her lap as she smiled at Yami. That same, warming smile from this morning. "But filing that information away for later, I think I always knew. Yes… the minute Yugi came back from Duelist Kingdom, I knew I had two sons."

Yami once again froze. His brain at first didn't even register her words. Once he convinced his frozen gears to move, he had only one thought. "Tw-two sons?" It didn't feel like his heart was sinking anymore. In fact, it seemed like all his insides disappeared entirely. Only his headache remained. Yet, he didn't feel hollow. "Son?" He then glanced at Yui again, just in time to witness as her smile fell. Of course, she misspoke. She was still getting used to the fact he was not Yugi.

"Yes, I did say son… Do you not want to be referred to as that? I understand if I took a step too far." Yui tentatively asked.

Yami couldn't hide his wide eyes or slight shiver. He couldn't believe what he was hearing; his body seemed determined to reject it. This uncharacteristic frozenness made both Joey and Téa turn worriedly to him. What broke the silence was Grandpa clearing his throat.

"Well, that makes things easy for me to announce. I already adopted the pharaoh here as my grandson. He's agreed, and he can't take it back now." Grandpa added. Yami turned to Grandpa with that same, deer-in-the-headlights look.

"Really?" Junior chuckled as he got up from his seat and stood next to Yui's chair. She looked up to him, and a broad grin spread across her face. He nodded to her as he put his hands on her shoulders. They then both turned back to Yami.

"Well then, we have no choice but to take you on as our son too. Just to keep things balanced." Yui said. Yami didn't immediately answer. "If you'll have us, of course. We are a strange bunch."

Yami was still unmoving. He was prepared for so much worse when telling Yui the truth. Yet, here they were. For a moment, warmth started to return to Yami. Then his headache suddenly spiked to new painful heights. He groaned as he curled forward. His two friends reached out for him, but Yami swatted away their help as he sat up again. What warmth had been there had chilled. What was left was a new swirl of horrible feelings. Guilt, sadness, anger, and fear. It swamped him, nearly drowned him where he sat. It was so strong he didn't even notice the dark pulse from the Millennium Puzzle.

It was so clear to Yami. Everyone's smiles were fake or filled with pity. 'Grandpa was just being polite. He accepts everyone as a grandchild. That's why he wants everyone to call him Grandpa. Junior may have supported me in the police station, but that was so I didn't make the coward look bad. And Yui… Yui must still not understand.'

"But I'm not Yugi!" Yami burst out, all regality and control gone from his voice.

"We know that," Yui said as a worried look came to everyone's faces. "We're not saying this only because of your connection to Yugi. What we mean is… Well… It already feels like you've been part of the family for years. I can't quite explain this, but it's like I already know you."

"I agree," Grandpa added. "It is such a deep feeling that I can't deny it. You've been my grandchild since the beginning."

The two then looked to Junior. The man's eyes widened slightly as he bit his lip. It looked like he wanted to say something, but nothing came to him. Yui tried to subtly elbow him, but Yami saw it. He saw all of Junior's hesitance, and it only fueled his inner turmoil.

"My husband is a little slow on the uptake, but he'll catch up," Yui filled the silence when her husband couldn't. Junior smiled sheepishly but kept his gaze on the suddenly panicking Yami.

Yami kept wildly glancing at everyone. He started slightly shaking as another dark pulse made his headache spike again. "But I've done so much wrong! I've lied to all of you for years!"

"Well, we managed to still be friends despite the same lies told to us." Téa's voice made Yami jump a little.

"Ya, Yami. We all understand why you and Yugi were a little tight-lipped. None of us hold dat against ya." Joey added as he pulled Yami into a side hug.

"For years I lied." Yami gasped in Joey's tight embrace.

"Come now, pharaoh," Grandpa said. "Secrets aren't exactly new to this family. It hasn't stopped us yet from loving each other. What matters to us is that you told the truth when it counted."

"But I don't understand a thing outside of games! I've hurt so many! I've literally driven people insane!" Yami pulled away from Joey and stood up. He stood frozen as the need to run and to remain in place fought inside him. He didn't know what he was doing, his headache was throbbing, and he was suddenly filled with so much dread and… dizziness? He then noticed that everyone had turned to Junior. He had left his wife's side and was slowly walking towards Yami.

"Yami? You've been holding your breath." Junior said. Yami was suddenly aware of that very fact too.

Yami took in a breath, but it felt like his chest was too tight for the air. He then grasped the chain necklace. It wasn't his chest that was too tight, but the puzzle that seemed too heavy. He jerked the chain off and held the puzzle in his hands. He still couldn't seem to breathe as he stared at the rocky pyramid. Its carved eye seemingly staring back, mocking him.

"I don't need your pity," Yami said through gritted teeth. "I understand I'm a stranger here. You don't have to pretend to care for me more than you actually do. I don't deserve to..." Yami couldn't finish the thought.

"May I step closer to you?" Junior asked, his voice even. It took the pharaoh a few moments to even register he said anything. Yami held the puzzle to his chest, and nodded, thankful that Junior had asked instead of walking closer unannounced. That probably was the only thing that kept Yami from bolting.

Junior nodded to him and stepped forward, he then bent down so he could look level with Yami. After making sure the Pharoah was continually breathing, he spoke. "You may have hurt people, but I've witnessed you work your hardest to make up for it. You know your faults, and you're doing everything you can to not fall into those traps again. That's truly a hard feat." Junior's crimson eyes glanced away for a moment. He then whispered to only Yami, "Take it from someone who's had to work and is still working on that. I still have a great deal of growing to do, we all do. So, if you're afraid you're not 'worthy' of this family, then we can work on that together. I promise I'm not running anytime soon." Then he led Yami's gaze around the room. "We will understand if you don't want to be referred to as family, but this reaction tells me there's something more going on. I realize if you feel overwhelmed, trust me when I say I really do, but don't confuse that fear for the emotions of others."

Junior then held his hands out, clearly asking for the Millenium Puzzle. Yami at first stared at him in disbelief as he gripped the puzzle tighter. Junior couldn't understand what this item was to Yami. It held all his responsibility and status as the nameless Pharoah. It literally held his soul, he couldn't even move five feet without it! Yami turned away and looked around the room for a way out when his eyes landed on his friends still on the couch.

Joey and Téa, while both had anxious looks, couldn't hide their excitement. They wanted him to be an official Muto, to have this piece of normality. But what meant more to Yami at that moment was the reminder that they were still _there_. Despite these past dangerous and truely terrifying years, they had stayed by his side. They always referred to him as a friend, despite being someone they couldn't see half the time. Even the heavy puzzle couldn't distract him from that. Then Yami's gaze fell on the rest of the room. The other Mutos hadn't retracted what they said. They, too, were still there.

Yami slowly turned to face Junior again. He was still bent down. His soft smile had none of the terrifying edges it had the night before. It was a kind, calming smile. Then the Pharoah looked down at the father's hands. It was then Yami realized he wasn't reaching out for the puzzle, he had been reaching out for Yami. To calm him if the spirit would let him.

"But, but, but," Yami's mouth was on autopilot. "But… I'm dead."

Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"Well, that is something new. I'm up for the challenge if you are." Junior said.

Yami could only stare for a few moments. He then shoved the puzzle into Junior's hands. The man was at first shocked, but he held the item gently. Yami knew then he had been wrong, while Junior might not know all the specifics, he did know what the artifact meant to the Pharoah. The whole family knew.

"Yami?" Junior asked.

Yami took in a deep breath, his first real breath in almost a minute. While the headache was still there, the storm began to dissipate. He could trust his family to hold onto the puzzle for a while.

"Th-thank you. Thank you so much." Yami croaked. A grandpa with a love of games. A dad that would truly understand the parts of himself that Yami wasn't so proud of. Siblings and friends, even if one wasn't here. And a… mom. A mom that loved him, loved the real him.

"Come here," Yui said as Yami began to tear up. He tried to hold it back, but it just kept coming. Yui walked around the table and held him close. The love he had felt this morning, it was just for him this time. Yami sobbed hard, something he hadn't done since Yugi was stolen from him the first time. The release seemed to wash away the remains of the mental acid. The others soon came to his support, no judgment or fakeness.

He didn't have to wait for his memories. A family, he had a family.

…

_A few hours later when Junior and Yui were absolutely sure Yami couldn't hear them._

"-AND THERE ARE LITERAL WORLD DESTROYING THINGS JUST OUT THERE!"

"THERE ARE OTHER DIMENSIONS THAT OUR SONS HAVE BEEN TOO!"

"MAGIC IS REAL AND CAN DRIVE US INSANE!"

"OUR SONS AND THEIR FRIENDS USE THAT MAGIC DAILY!"

"WE HAVE TWO SONS NOW!"

"AHHH!"

"AHHH!"

Junior and Yui both finally ran out of panic and collapsed next to each other on their bed. They stayed lying there, staring at the ceiling as both eventually came to grips with the fact that their ideas of how the world worked had been completely and utterly shattered. Junior had felt this building panic the last few days, but his training allowed him to hold it in. His wife could only last until the others were out of the house before she broke down, Junior soon followed suit.

After many minutes of merely laying there, Yui started giggling. Junior turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Well… For better or worse, we finally have another child. Like we always dreamed. I just didn't think it'd be like this!" She said through her laughter. Then another coughing fit took her smile.

Junior simply shook his head as he waited for her to get a few breaths. "You really felt as if Yami is already your son?"

"You don't?" She asked. Junior could only frown. "I mean, before today I never really thought about it or even realized it. But that feeling has always been there. Like that boy is meant to be with us, even though I really just met him. It just feels… universally right… As if I just fit the last puzzle piece into our family portrait. Does that make sense?"

Junior sighed. "It does. The thing is I know exactly the emotion you're talking about, but I don't feel it in regards to him. But I had felt it years ago when Dad came back from his cave-in experience. The feeling of finding something that felt so right, like it always had been mine."

Yui glanced at his deepening frown. "What do you mean?"

Junior didn't answer at first. Then shook his head. "At the moment, nothing. I'm happy we're squared away with Yami's situation, and I'm excited to get to know him. Well, to get to know him and Yugi. We can deal with weird magical feelings once everyone is safe."

Yui asked for more information, but Junior didn't say anything else. She then noticed as he began lightly tracing the scars across his face. She recognized that gesture and knew what feelings followed. Or to be more accurate, the emotions that could spiral into much darker territory.

Yui silently reached across the bed and held out her hand for her husband's. Junior took it without hesitation, as he had for years. He smiled at the silent act of comfort, then Yui surprised him by gripping back a little harder. Junior glanced at his wife to see that familiar spark in her eyes. He held her hand a tiny bit tighter. She copied his strength and added to it. This was an old game between the two, starting back when they were dating. Who could hold the hardest? Junior could win the strength game easily, especially since Yui had nearly no grip to begin with. But he never did. That's how it always seemed to be with Yui. She was the one person he had never needed to win against.

After a comfortable stretch of silence, Junior glanced back to Yui to see if she was still at it. Sure enough, she was still focused on crushing his hand. She now had both her hands (cast and all) clasped around his as she determinedly squeezed, sweat forming on her brow. Junior smiled to himself as he pulled away, exaggeratedly shaking out his hand. Yui's triumphant grin always made the loss worth it.

"Well, what now?" Junior sighed, his thoughts now pulled back in the present.

"While they find that Red-Eyes spirit, I suppose we have to find that card that glowed red."

"Hmm." The two remained quiet for a few more moments. Both unwilling to get up from the bed.

"It's weird to think a little piece of inked paper stole our son," Yui said after a while.

"That's the thing you pick out of all this?"

"It's still strange," Yui said in a pouting tone.

"I can't fault you there." Junior sighed. They really should get up, but he found he didn't want to. And not just from the impending doom that now hung over them. He was enjoying merely sitting with Yui, despite it all.

Junior looked over to Yui again. It had been a while since he simply sat with his wife. He was usually home for such a short time that they were rushing to cram all the family activities they could into their schedule. Junior realized with a saddened heart that it had been years since they simply enjoyed each other's company. Constant phone calls were much different than this.

Yui then looked to him at that moment and noticed his fallen expression. "Don't worry. We'll get Yugi back. I know we will."

"Oh, uh… Yes, I know." Junior quickly said.

Yui's eyes narrowed, she knew there was something else. Junior then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned back to Yui. Her face fell into a knowing frown. "What do you need me to do?" She asked. Junior was taken aback for a moment before he shook his head, a smile slowly returning to his face.

Yui was the kind of woman to leave if she was truly not happy. Sickness or not, she would and could find a way. In fact, she had years to do so. She could have easily taken everything, and Junior wouldn't have fought her. And yet she was still _here_. Still supporting him in every way she knew how. He really was the luckiest guy in the world. They would have a lot to talk about once everyone was safe and sound. He had years to make up for, something only a few days couldn't fix. But just as he promised to Yami, he wasn't going to run this time. They would do this together.

"There's nothing at the moment. I was just taken by surprise," Junior said as he sat up. "You changed your hair dye again." Yui caught on that he wasn't deflecting and, instead, was saving for a better time. She chose to trust him and continued on their new topic.

"About time you noticed, I've only had this color for years," Yui said as she too got up. "And before you ask, no, I've stopped trying to recreate my original hair color. Yugi is the one that has to deal with the Arai magenta now."

Junior chuckled but couldn't help but be surprised. Yui hadn't said her maiden name in years. She usually went out of her way to avoid mentioning her family. They _had_ completely cut ties with her simply because she had married him (or to be more accurate, she didn't marry the rich Gozaburo). Did they finally make amends, or had had that wound simply scabbed over? Junior decided that was another topic for yet another day. They had enough dreary conversations for the moment.

"You know I'll love any hair color you choose, even if you go natural," Junior said as he began searching the halls for the lost card.

"Ha! And either make myself look a decade older or a half-baked Blue-Eyes cosplay. No thanks!" She grumbled as she went to look in Yugi's room, "Cursed genetics turning my hair white before I was even thirty."

After a few minutes of searching Yui yelled to him in the hall, "So, which do you think I was more beautiful in, my magenta hair or this burgundy?"

Junior shrugged. "I don't believe I can answer that safely. So, I'll simply nod."

"Smart." Yui laughed as she turned to the window. "Hey, they're back!"

Junior ran over to Yugi's window and looked down to see Grandpa driving back with Téa, Joey, and Yami (his puzzle now wrapped around his belt). Junior's frown returned when he didn't see Red-Eyes with them. The spirit must have not been at Joey's apartment after all. Yui caught on to Junior's disappointment and threw herself into searching for the card. Junior quickly joined her as the two started taking apart the upstairs.

As the two worked, Junior accidentally knocked off a picture from a shelf. As he picked up the photo of him and his military unit in the Nevada desert, he paused. Then he burst out laughing. A hardy, deep laugh that even had Yui coming over.

"What is it, dear?" Yui asked.

"It's nothing. And I really mean it's nothing. It's just another belief-shattering realization of the day." Junior tried to wave away. Yui putting her hands on her hips was the sign of an unwinnable battle, so Junior stopped and let out a breath. "I just realized… If those Neo-Spacians were real. I really met spirits _from outer space!_" Junior couldn't help but yell. It was a sentence he never thought he would say sincerely.

Yui was taken back a moment before joining in the laughter. She then walked over and pulled him into a tight hug. "That's the thing you pick out of all this?"

"It's still strange," Junior grumbled in a purposefully exaggerated tone. Yui couldn't help but kiss that grouchy face.

"I can't fault you there."

The Mutos had always been there for each other. But for the first time in years, they would face this new world as a complete family. They would all be here.


	27. A Motionless Sunset

**A/N: Oh dear, here we go again. No matter how much I try to plan, I just don't have time to write anymore. I could go on and on about personal stuff in my life, but that's not what you're here for. So to respect your time, I'll skip straight to the point. I am once again changing the release schedule. I hate it as much as you, but if I want to get these chapters out in a decent fashion, I will have to stretch uploads to every third Friday. I know it is nearly a month gap, and I know that even with that time, the chapters will probably be very short. But I refuse to go on hiatus again because I love writing this, and I love hearing from you guys. So if you'll be patient with me, I _will_ finish this story.**

**Thank you as always for continuing to read. I appreciate it more than could ever be adequately put into words.**

The unmoving sun seemed to bear down on Yugi. Logic told him this amount of sunlight would burn, or at least make him sweat. Yet, it never did. Warmth never spread through him when the sunlight touched him. It was just that, something to light the world, not a physical substance. The temperature of this perfect world never changed either, even if he stood under some shade, if the wind blew by, or if he was indoors. Everything was eternally comfortable. After being here for so long, Yugi decided that was the thing that freaked him out most about this land. He could take everything looking like an untouched storybook, but the underlying feeling of fakeness made every cell in his body screamed something was wrong. This domain was, and would always be, perfect. And after searching alone in this forest of giant trees for so long, Yugi couldn't take it anymore.

Yugi turned and headed back towards the grey clearing. He needed something, some new direction in the breeze or change in tune from those unseen birds that seemed to be on an infinite loop. But this perfect world stayed staunch in its purpose. Yugi's headache throbbed as his walk broke into a run. He was close to panic until he broke through the tree line into Gandora's destruction.

It was if Yugi had run out of an airlock, the wind blew past him, and this time it made him feel a chill. The land around was nothing but ash, but at least he didn't feel like he was standing in a hologram anymore. And what's more, the sunlight that beamed down actually felt like it was real. This land was real. He was real.

Yugi sighed in relief. Then his gaze landed on the quietly crying dragon laid out beside a massive fallen tree. Surrounding her were many colorful balls of fluff. To the dragon's side was Silent Magician, hand-brushing the ash out of her scales and covering wounds with healing herbs a few Kuribohs found in the area. Yugi's relief immediately flew away. He remembered why he had even left his friends' sides and lowered his head. He slowly waded through the sea of Kuriboh with a heavy heart.

"Did you find anyone?" Silent's azure words flickered in front of Yugi. The little mage purposefully turned Gandora's head at that moment so she wouldn't see the letters or Yugi's answer. Gandora's head was nearly the size of Silent's body, so she had to levitate it. Those strange blue cracks appeared again and covered the dragon's head. Gandora didn't fight her. She had no energy to do so.

Yugi shook his head and frowned. Earlier Gandora had messily and almost unintelligibly caught them up on what happened to her since her flight from the castle. Yugi had been searching for the construction workers she said had initially been here. He found no signs of other monsters in the area. He held in the sickening feeling of what that meant as another group of Kuriboh hopped into the clearing. Leading them was Yugi's bejeweled Kuriboh. They too only had frowns to show for their search.

"They're gone, aren't they?" Gandora's voice was harsh and shaky.

Yugi and Silent looked to each other, both unsure what to say. The most sound Yugi had ever heard from Silent magician came from the worried click she made as she bit her lip. Gandora only needed to glance in their direction to know their findings.

"I killed them…?" Her words were at first slow and unsure. But as the others didn't answer, her sobs sped up as she curled tighter. "I killed them. Oh, Gods, I killed them!" Her whole body was wracked with a new wave of tears. It made every part of the dragon shake, in turn making the ground rumbled beneath them.

"Gandora..." Yugi had to quickly right himself. He winced as the pain in his head plus the new rumbling made him dizzy, but he pushed it away so he could focus on Gandora. "They could have gotten away! You said Marshmallon wasn't affected by damage, and they was the only one you saw near you. The others could have run while they distracted you." Yugi tried. Silent also had some words of hope, but Gandora didn't even read those as she curled tighter.

"There were children there. I killed them! I destroyed them…."

Yugi swallowed hard as he could only stand there, another ache wrenching into his heart. Silent magician seemed just as sick to her stomach. When Gandora refused to read her words, the spellcaster stood up with a defeated sigh. She then attempted to wipe her hands on her dress but ended up only staining it with herb and ash. She silently exhaled as she looked to Yugi.

"I need to get more supplies. Since its almost time for sleep, I'll be taking the Kuribohs with me. We should be back in time." Silent wrote.

Yugi looked up before he remembered that the sun's placement in the sky had no barring on when "night" was in this land. He nodded to her, and she wordlessly signaled to the mob. They headed out of the clearing once Yugi's Kuriboh gave Gandora one more worried nuzzle. As Silent passed Yugi, she stopped to place a hand on his shoulder. The two looked into each other's eyes; no words needed to be said. She squeezed his shoulder briefly before hopping onto the moving wave of Kuriboh and riding it into the forest.

Yugi walked up to Gandora's side and sat down beside her, no hesitation or fear for the large monster. He understood her well enough at this point to know there was no true hatred behind her eyes, even when she tail-whipped him hours before.

"I'm right here Gandora," Yugi said as he ran his hand over her neck. His words felt so useless at this moment. "I'm right here." Yugi continued to whisper words of comfort as he leaned in and attempted to hug her. Even at her body's thinnest point, Yugi couldn't quite wrap his hands all the way around her. Her many spikes didn't help either. Yugi was determined though and held as tight as he could. He channeled as much of Joey's famous bear hugs as he could. Gandora pulled him closer to her with her wings, and they simply sat there for what seemed like a long time.

As they sat, Yugi felt the heat from the sun start to bear down on them in this imperfect ashy plain. Yugi wanted to laugh at such a thing. It was almost more comfortable and peaceful in this heat than the forest around, almost. Heat was still heat. It must have been even worse for Gandora with her pitch-black scales.

"Can you get up?" Yugi spoke softly, nearly a whisper. Gandora's grunt was her only answer. "We need to move you out of this sun. It's almost time for the night."

"I-I can't."

"Are you too hurt?" Yugi anxiously asked as he began to look for a wound Silent might have missed.

"No, not that. It's just... The dreams, I don't think I can take them now. It's too soon. Too soon." Her tears had finally run dry, but she was still sniffling and hiccupping. She barely turned enough for Yugi to see her crimson eyes, so filled with pain.

"Oh, Gandora." Yugi once again attempted to hug her. "I am so sorry."

"For what? It's not your fault I… that he…they…"

Yugi shook his head. "I'm sorry that things turned out this way. There are so many things I wish I could say to make you feel better. So many things I wish I could do for you." Yugi put a hand on his puzzle. "But... Know that, I'm still here for you. And I'm not leaving."

Gandora closed her eyes in an attempt to hold back a new tide of tears.

"Here. You need this." The flickering blue lettering appeared in front of the two, but Yugi was the only one to read it. Silent Magician and Kuriboh, leading their mob, came forth from the forest. The Kuriboh horde was holding up the biggest leaf Yugi had ever seen. It was the size of him. This leaf was cupped in such a way that it held a pool of water mixed with various herbs and fruit juices Silent must have found.

"You need to drink. It looks like you've run yourself ragged." Silent wrote as she kneeled next to Gandora.

Gandora looked up to see the Kuribohs holding the pool. She breathed a deep breath and forced herself to stand. Yugi and Silent stepped back as Gandora looked wordlessly down at the water, then plunged in her entire head. Yugi and Silent were able to use Gandora as cover from the splash, but the Kuribohs were not so lucky. A few squeaked in protest and even left the mob. The puffballs left then slowly lowered the leaf and stepped away. Only a few remained at this point, but the brown Kuriboh with the mislaid jewelry never hinted at leaving.

The leaf held its shape as Gandora pulled her head out. She had drained nearly the whole bowl. "Thank you," Gandora said as she looked back to Silent. To Yugi's surprise, her wounds that had been so bad earlier seemed to heal in front of his eyes. They didn't fully disappear, but a combination of the Gandoras' famous healing speed and Silent's concoction appeared to do the trick.

"What are friends for?" Silent wrote with a kind smile.

"...Friend?" Gandora asked, her voice shaking.

"Ah, beloved? Was that your word for it?" Silent wrote while scratching her head.

Gandora silently looked over them before averting her gaze from theirs. She hugged herself, and her wings fell flatly to her side.

"Gandora," Yugi said as he walked to stand in front of her.

Gandora turned to him, almost pleadingly. "Yugi… I… I should be the one apologizing. I heaped a lot of… unneeded feelings on you."

"I understand," Yugi said. "I have no idea how much losing a child would hurt. I can almost understand hoping for it not to be true." Gandora looked to him, some light returning to her eyes. "But I am not your son. I don't want those attachments clouding our friendship."

Gandora's head lowered, a look of shame spreading across her body. Yugi then ran to her side and rested his hand on one of her many orbs. "I understand if you need time. But I still very much want to be your friend. I said I wasn't going anywhere, and I mean it! No matter what happens." Yugi said with as much conviction as he could muster.

Kuriboh, still wearing their jewelry, then came and jumped into Gandora's arms. They squeaked happily in agreement. Gandora looked down in surprise. But when she realized that Kuriboh trusted her, she gently hugged the fuzzball close. A small smile finally made it to her face

"I too." Silent stepped up right alongside Yugi. "I know the other Silents are chasing your archetype, but I want to reiterate that I'm not one of them. You are my friend too. No matter what, we are all staying by your side."

"Thank you." Gandora sighed. Her posture seemed to lighten as she looked at her friends. Yugi really should have seen it coming, but the air was still knocked out of him as Gandora scooped them up in a massive hug. Silent and Yugi both immediately hugged her head (ignoring the side spikes that seemed determined to poke out their eyes). Kuriboh continued to squeak in happiness as the surrounding puffballs cheered too. It was a long hug, but a much-needed one. When Gandora finally put them down, Yugi had to take in a deep breath. And Silent had to wipe away her own tears secretly.

Gandora then spent a few moments looking over Silent Magician, specifically her ash and herb encrusted hands.

"I have to thank you personally for another thing. The medicine really helped. Though I'm not sure I deserve it after everything." Gandora said.

Silent good-naturedly waved away her words. "Do not worry about it. While it might not be as good as magical healing, it's at least something, right?"

Gandora seemed extra focused on her floating words. Or to be more accurate the way they flickered in and out before disappearing. Her gaze then fell to the ground, shame returning. "It doesn't seem so long ago you wanted me dead for banishing the Knights. Now you do all this for me."

"Oh! Let's not bring up that embarrassing outburst on the mountain again, please! I was low on magic, energy, and understanding at the time. Even then, I never wanted you dead! I just..." Silent wrote while hiding her eyes. "Some old habits die hard, you know? If I ever again revert to the old way Silents used to deal with things, I am giving you all free reign to slap me." Kuriboh then bumped into Silent's side with a playful peep. "Or multiply to the point you drown me again."

"I would never slap you! I mean, I hit you before, but that was during that duel and I'm very sorry for that-" Gandora was cut off as Silent walked to her side and repeatedly patted her knee orb until she noticed the spellcaster.

"Let's stop with the apologies for now." Silent wrote with a kind smile. "We know, we promise we know." Both Yugi and Kuriboh seconded her. Gandora still seemed shocked that they were even talking to her. But she silently nodded her head.

"Still friends then... friends..." Gandora said, giving the word "friends" an almost reverence. Her gaze then fell on the mountain looming over this whole land. Yugi's gaze followed. The view of the top was blocked by unnaturally fluffy clouds. But the blue and white glow of the Silents' barrier could be seen through the cover. Silent Magician caught on to where they were staring and wrote high enough for them to see.

"Don't worry about them. We won't let them take you, Gandora." The azure letters read.

Gandora looked back down at the mage and her dirtied dress and hands. Gandora's own hands fell to the center orb on her chest. "Did you know the Silents used to work closely with us Gandora? Especially Silent Swordsman." Both Silent and Yugi looked to her in surprise, Silent's eyes growing wide at the sudden information. "Did you ever wonder how an enslaved archetype knew so much about them, or about you? Despite never being in this domain before?" Gandora asked. Yugi then thought back to the trip up the mountain. He never thought of that, but yes, the Gandora had seemed to know a lot about the Silent archetype. Enough that the Gandora mob had spared (or the Gandora version of sparing) Silent Magician when they first found her because they had known of her "exile."

"They were hired to help stop a magical disease that had ravaged us Gandora for years." Gandora's grip on her orb tightened. "They had to study us closely to understand better what to dispel. I'd had never seen a group work so hard for beings like us before. Once they had an objective, they worked towards it with almost a single-minded abandon. And they did manage to cure the plague. It was the last thing we Gandora needed before we ran. While the Silents were never overflowing with kindness, they were never cruel. They actually respected us at times." Gandora continued. Silent was still just as confused as Yugi on where this was coming from. "I see that same dedication in you, and I once again thank you for it. All the Silents seem to have this drive. If put to the right task, it would do so much good for this world."

Silent Magician swallowed hard as she nodded. "It's something I've been working to prove for a very long time. But why are you bringing this up now?"

Gandora took in a deep breath. She then let it out in a puff of smoke. "I'm going to give myself over to them."

"What?!" Yugi gasped.

"No! If you do that, you'll go back to that horrible war!" Silent wrote in jagged letters. Kuriboh added their own argument in a string of squeaks.

"I don't believe I have a choice anymore. I'm a murderer now." Gandora said, gesturing to the surrounding area. "This land has only tolerated us Gandora so well because there have been no casualties or any damage that couldn't be reset. I just wiped out a large group of monsters. There's no going back from that."

Yugi's words died in his throat as the sickening realization seeped in. Silent Magician somehow managed to turn paler as even Kuriboh made no sounds of an argument.

"And Yugi," Gandora's gaze fell like a ton of bricks on Yugi's shoulders. "You have to get home to your true family. You can't focus on that and finding the knights if you are worried about a war breaking out around you. If I turn myself over to them, maybe the Warriors will be happy with just me. I can easily start another generation of dragons and-"

"No, absolutely not!" Yugi, Kuriboh, and Silent yelled/squeaked/wrote. They weren't even going to let Gandora consider that option. There had to be something they could do.

"I agree! Why would this domain want to lose such helpful monsters?" A high-pitched voice came from behind the group.

The friends jumped as they turned to some rustling bushes at the edge of the clearing. With a sticky plop, a pink blob hopped into the sunlight. Their toothy smile was so like one of Yugi's cards that he recognized them even before Gandora yelped.

"Marshmallon?! But I thought...!" Gandora gasped.

The blob's frightening grin grew larger as they turned to the dragon. "Hello, Gandora. I did tell you I couldn't be killed, right? Though yours was the best attempt so far." They said with a chuckle.

Gandora started shivering from head to foot. The three at her side recognized the excitement well enough to leap out of the way as Gandora threw herself at Marshmallon.

"You're alive!" Gandora's weight and her archetype's natural imbalance made her and Marshmallon go sliding across the clearing. Neither seemed to care. When they stopped, she hugged the monster so hard they split in two and fell to the ground in pieces. Only Yugi looked shocked. "Are the others ok?!" Gandora stayed on her belly so she could speak to the remains.

"Surprised, but alive. It was almost like they all had bags of teleporting magic on them," Marshmallon sarcastically said as they reconnected as if nothing happened. "I've been spending the last few hours looking all across this domain for them. As I said, transportable magic acts very wonkily when used on living things, but they're all in good health. Many even asked if you were ok."

Gandora looked so relieved at that moment. It was as if a weight was thrown from her back. Then her face fell as she turned to the rubble surrounding them. "I'm so-" but she didn't have a chance to finish her apology as Marshmallon hopped out of her grip to face Yugi and the others.

"I'm glad to see you're not alone," Marshmallon said as they looked to Yugi and Silent. "Greetings great Pharaoh. And good to see you too, honorable Silent Magician." They bowed their head in respect.

"Don't tell me." Silent wrote with a crooked smile as she crossed her arms. "You really were continuing your construction, despite the emergencies happening around you?" She wrote with a soundless chuckle.

"In the past, I've spent years waiting for the perfect moment. The only thing that seemed to accomplish in the end was making me wait." Marshmallon said.

"So, this was the construction manager?" Yugi asked. He then noticed Silent's knowing smile. "Did you know Marshmallon from before?"

"Why, yes." Marshmallon said, "Any time a big influx of incoming monsters is planned for, like for construction, our lovely Silent protector has to be notified."

Silent rubbed her temples as she shook her head. "Marshmallon was asked to build a human styled village in the hollow tree here."

"And I destroyed it all!" Gandora yelped as she ran to be in the middle of the group. "I'm so sorry." She then seemed to realize something and took a couple of steps back. "You must hate me right now. I tried to warn you, Gandora can't create. Or at least create anything good."

"Nonsense!" Marshmallon said in a surprisingly powerful voice. "While I am sad to lose all that work, it's nothing compared to what you have just given me!" Everyone looked surprised as Marshmallon hopped to the downed tree. "If I had realized this earlier, I wouldn't have even started building and just had you destroy everything then and there. But you are here now, I suppose. I'd like you to destroy the entire property if you could. Then the next reset we will rebuild even better!"

Everyone stared in utter shock. Gandora's arms fell limply to her side as she stared, jaw hanging open, at the beaming blob. Even the surrounding Kuribohs had nothing to add to this clearly mad monster's ramblings.

Gandora had to slap her cheeks just to right herself at that moment. "What in the eleven dimensions are you talking about?"

"Why, don't you feel it? The creepiness is gone. And from what I've seen and heard from others, it will remain perfectly unperfect even as future resets fix the land. It must be something special about the Gandora archetype's destructive powers." Marshmallon explained.

"What?" Silent asked.

"The perfection!" Yugi realized as he lit up. "This land and every area the Gandora have damaged lose that unnerving perfection!" Marshmallon nodded to him and looked to the other to see if they caught up. The others were still staring slack-jawed at the two.

"I thought any damage did that," Gandora murmured as her hands gripped each other.

"While true, any imperfection usually gets fixed in the next reset. Yet, with what I've heard from the workers that got teleported up the mountain, the now fixed areas a Gandora destroyed still doesn't have that unnerving quality. I suppose you dragons destroy so well that even a magical reset can't restore it to a perfect state."

Yugi was reasonably sure if Gandora could blush she would have. "Oh," was all the dragon said.

"Don't feel bad, Gandora! It's a good thing in this case." Yugi said as he came up to her side and patted her. "Think back to the riddle gauntlet. Even after the world was rebuilt around us, while still being completely fixed, it didn't have the weird perfection the untouched areas had. We were so much happier in those fixed areas!"

"You know Gandora, I have a few business-owning friends in this domain that would love for you to come over before the next reset. It would certainly make their newer customers and tenants more relaxed and more willing to buy." Marshmallon said with an almost fiendish grin. Gandora looked back at the tiny monster in continued shock.

"Wait!" Silent's large letters appeared between everyone. "May I repeat, what?" Yugi then remembered that Silent never noticed a difference in the land. He looked to the others with a shrug. How to explain something she couldn't see or feel?

"Let me guess. You grew up in this domain?" Marshmallon asked.

"Yes, all Silents do." She then turned back to Yugi. "Is this the thing you two were going on about on the mountaintop?"

"Yes. Remember how I said everything feels too perfect to be real? Because of it, most of us could never really feel comfortable in this land." Yugi tried. Silent still seemed confused, but it was clear she wanted to believe them.

"Well, say this 'perfection' is real and I can't see it because I grew up here. Why is it only in this land and not others? I've traveled around many domains in my youth, and I never felt anything like you guys are talking about."

"Huh… I don't know." Yugi said before looking around at the others. Even Marshmallon could only shrug (a rather weird shoulder-less shrug).

Yugi thought for a while before asking if the resets were different in other domains somehow. The group explained that other than it being done at different times and at different intervals based on how much destruction was done, the power came from the same magic. This magic was connected to the magical border surrounding this entire dimension and stopped it from collapsing into the human world. Because of this, every dimension had to have at least one reset at some point every month.

"So the monthly resets are something all domains have? What does the reset do if something's not broken or is the same as last month?" Yugi asked.

"I suppose it would try to remake the land, but with nothing to change." Silent wrote.

Kuriboh was the one to perk up this time. They hopped into Silent's arms and started squeaking wildly to her. As Silent listened, her eyes slowly grew wider. Marshmallon seemed to understand Kuriboh too as they nodded to what the furball said.

"Makes sense to me," Marshmallon said. Both Gandora and Yugi turned to each other for answers. With neither speaking Kuriboh, they then look at Silent as her words appeared.

"I get it now! The reset would continually remake the land, sanding over every mistake. To us that have always lived here, the magical change was slow, but to any new monsters, it wouldn't seem right. This land has had everything natural about it fixed and continually fixed until there was no flaw. But the Gandoras' power must somehow make it retain some flaws. Meaning-"

"It looks natural," Gandora said as she stared in awe at her destruction. Yugi could almost feel Gandora's growing happiness himself.

"Now, if only we could safely destroy the whole domain, then this would be the perfect place for any monster. I might even want to move out here." Marshmallon said.

The few Kuriboh's around joined into the conversation by cheering. Gandora at first jumped at the crowd's noise, but then another smile slid onto her face as she looked at this little group she had managed to collect. Yugi too smiled and was about to add his own thoughts when a great gust of wind blew past. While this wind held real feeling thanks to being in Gandora's devastation, it also carried a pungent smell that not even her destruction could effect. Yugi put his back to the strong wind as the smell of a thousand summer nights forced its way into his nose. He couldn't help but gag as the others groaned.

"No! There's still too much to do! We can't sleep now!" Gandora roared. Sure enough, the wafting smell of night soon made the surrounding monsters' eyes droop.

"No offense, dear Silent Magician. But I hate the sleep schedule of your domain." Marshmallon yawned.

"Everyone needs eight hours of sleep to be healthy." Silent wrote, but even she seemed annoyed by the inconvenient timing of the moonless night. Gandora had already begun doing push-ups to fight off the forced rest.

"Come on guys. Let's get you to a better place to lay down-" Yugi began to say when the ash around them suddenly shifted again. Another wind blew down the group, a much stronger force than the night brought. It was the wind of flapping wings.

It was like one of Kaiba's helicopters circling the group. It was a harsh wind that even Yugi had a hard time standing up against. The others were quickly losing strength; all the Kuribohs not in someone's arms blew away. Yugi shielded his eyes, but he knew immediately it was Blue-Eyes circling the group. And either thanks to his mental connection to her or just knowing the Blue-Eyes species, he knew she was purposefully rough with the wind she kicked up.

"There you are!" The great white dragon growled when she finally touched down, her landing shaking the whole area.

"Uh oh," Yugi whispered. He was surprised to see Blue-Eyes didn't seem the least bit sleepy, even as the ever fighting Gandora was losing her battle. Along with not being tired at all, Blue-eyes was glaring furiously down at him. He almost wanted to hide behind his friends but chose to instead stand firmly in front of the glaring dragon. Yugi knew he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"I have half a mind to claw you, Yugi Muto! First, you run when you need to recover, twice! Then I find you with an unstable dragon in a nearly destroyed land! Do you not understand how dangerous it is for you to be walking around?! You are only three-fourths of a body right now!"

"I'm what!?" Yugi gasped. Everyone froze at those words. Each stopped fighting their sleepiness and turned to the white dragon with wide eyes. Blue-Eyes tried to remain in her unwavering stance, but Yugi could feel her slight panic. She hadn't meant to say that.

"You are clearly hurt, not to full health. That is all I meant."

Yugi didn't believe her for a second. He was about to argue with her when his headache spiked. It grew to the point he had to hold the side of his head. It wasn't a single stabbing pain. It was a dull ache that traveled around the whole of his head. Silent and Gandora looked worriedly to him, Gandora even attempting to stand between him and Blue-Eyes. Blue-Eyes looked over the dragon weaving on her feet and (a little too roughly) pushed her aside to face Yugi.

"We can focus on that later. We have something much more pressing now. We need to deal with the war on this domain's very doorstep. While you four and…" Blue-Eyes glanced at Marshmallon, clearly unsure how they fit into all this. "… and the mad builder were having your little pow-wow, the Silents came to the castle!"

Yugi's own eyes widened as Silent gasped her most audible sound yet, and Gandora growled to the best of her sleepy abilities. Blue-Eyes ignored them as another sedating wind made the others fall to their knees (or sides in the Kuribohs' and Marshmallon's case).

"Is everyone at the castle ok?" Silent Magician's words flickered more than what was her new usual.

"Yes, for now." Blue-Eyes then lifted a clawed hand to her chest. While she still did her best to hide it, Yugi felt and saw as shame boiled within her. "I knew we should not have simply left them on the mountain to their own devices, but there was so much to do." She then took in a deep breath and looked back at Yugi. "The Silents are now prepared to raze the land in pursuit of the Gandora." Yugi could only clutch at his quartz puzzle as he had to suppress a shiver. He could feel the more murderous intent of the Silents in Blue-Eyes's words.

Blue-Eyes continued. "Back at the castle Silent Swordsman gave Dark Magician Girl an ultimatum, lead them to the Gandora, or they will destroy everything in their way. They are currently in their bubble of protection. Even as they sleep, I cannot get through it."

Silent Magician tried to fight to her feet again but couldn't manage it. She could only shake her head as true fear spread across her features. Gandora though, managed to stand again. She couldn't stay straight, but a roar still worked its way out of her woozy head. Yugi swallowed hard. From Silent Magician's look of absolute horror on her face, he could tell it wasn't bluffing on Silent Swordsman's part. They would and could destroy everything. While the land would heal in the next reset, the spirits here would not.

"They gave us two hours after we wake again," Blue-Eyes said. "This is why I raced here. Even with giving in to their demands, there will still be dangers thanks to the Gandora fighting back. Yugi, you are equal to the Pharaoh in nearly every monster's mind. If you talk to the Gandora-"

"Never!" Gandora yelled before falling back in a sitting position. "I know my archetype has been nothing but trouble, but please! Don't make them go back to that life!"

"Trouble is an understatement. You're lucky no one has died yet, or we wouldn't have even waited for Yugi to turn you all over." Blue-Eyes growled.

"Please!" both Yugi and Silent yelled.

"There had to be some other way!" Silent wrote.

"We can't just let these dragons go back to slavery!" Yugi added. "You can't seriously be ok with that!?"

"I am not!" Blue-Eyes roared. "It is absolutely horrid, and I know it! But we have no choice at the moment! We have to focus on getting the Knights back and stopping this lockdown before you and the spirits stuck in the human world lose all their energy! We can't do that if the domain around becomes a battlefield! Are these destructive dragons really worth all those lives?!"

Gandora at first seemed taken aback by the mention of the other spirits trapped by the lockdown, but her losing battle with sleep made her focus on one topic at a time. "We Gandora have known of nothing else but destruction! How do you expect us to know how to act immediately?!"

"You seem to know!" Blue-Eyes shot back

"Both of you stop!" Yugi's voice somehow equaled the two dragon's roar. He was shaking with so many emotions he couldn't name. He didn't know what Blue-Eyes meant when referring to his own collapse, but he hadn't even thought of what the lockdown was doing to the spirits stuck in the human world. Could they not stay there indefinitely? Was their time that short?

Gandora's last grumble before sleep took her only made Yugi's heart sink further. "Please…" was all she said before her eyes closed. Silent seemed to be in the middle of writing when she too collapsed.

An eerie silence fell over the imperfect land. Blue-Eyes continued to stare down at Yugi as everything seemed to come crashing down around him. But as he tried to think of a way out of this, his headache grew worse. He suddenly got dizzy and stumbled forward. Blue-Eyes immediately caught him using her head as something to lean on.

The dizziness didn't go away but Yugi ignored it the best he could and looked out at the grey clearing. "We can't just let the Silents have them," Yugi growled.

"I know. It is horrible." Blue-Eyes then looked away from Yugi's eyes, unable to face the little human's reproving gaze. "But we are out of time. Fighting the Silents off just for these destructive dragons will take too much time. It's either we save the Gandora or all the monsters in the human world, the Knights, and..." Blue-Eyes seemed to fight within herself for a few moments. "The Pharoah. He has even less time than you do."


	28. Cracks

**A/N: Why is this a day early? No reason this time, just finished this early and knew tomorrow would be a busy day. The next chapter will still follow the schedule. Please stay safe out there!**

**...**

The house was torn to pieces. Well-organized pieces since Yui wouldn't let them completely wreck the place, but it was thoroughly searched nonetheless. The Mutos (it made Yami shiver to think he was officially part of that statement) were determined to find that glowing card. After flipping Yugi's room upside down, the desperate family split up. Junior and Yami searched the top floor while Yui and Grandpa rifled through the bottom.

"Is it under there?" Junior asked as he lifted a bureau for Yami to search under.

"No." Yami sighed.

At this point, Junior had lifted just about every piece of furniture on the top floor. They were running out of places to look. As Yami thought about that fact, he suddenly felt like he was on the verge of crying. Another whirlwind of emotions forced their way into him as the earlier mental acid returned and started melting his control. Yami quickly strangled the building sob and instead focused on his anger as he crawled back out. He then glared down at the Millennium Puzzle currently wrapped around his belt. Its stony eye seemed to glare right back at him.

The Pharoah admitted these last few days had been a wrecking crew on his emotions. But even taking into account the recent emotional events (where he had every reason to break down), Yami still found many situations that he could usually take in stride affected him, deeply. Like his near panic at not knowing what clothes to wear, having an existential crisis over modern medicine, and the most worrying, suddenly not trusting the Mutos or even his friends. And while Yami being out of his element was a big part of that, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. He also started to wonder if his earlier fears he had brushed off as dark magic was a part of this too. Not to mention how physically off his body had felt when walking or with his constant headaches.

Yami felt like these problems were somehow connected to the stone puzzle. But he had nothing to prove it. And it wasn't like he could put the item away if that was the case. He still very much needed it by his side. He had learned that the hard way back in Joey's apartment. When they hadn't been able to find Red-Eyes, another wave of sudden distrust had crashed over the pharaoh. Yami, in his surprise, had thrown the item. Once the puzzle flew out of his five-foot range, some unseen force had shoved him into the nearest piece of furniture to keep him close to the item. In the process, hitting his head hard. His headache did not thank him for that and had stayed at that level of pain since. It was only the need to get Yugi back that really kept Yami on his feet at this point.

Under Junior's worried gaze, Yami tried to hide these new tears as he pulled the puzzle off his belt. 'Is this magic, or just me? Maybe it's neither, and this is some sort of flu? My headache and constant tiredness would lend to that theory. Then again, I know of no regular flu that makes a person suddenly not trust anyone or makes their emotions more extreme.' He thought.

"You ok, Champ?" Junior asked as he put down the bureau. Yami had noticed ever since they got back from Joey's apartment that his fath- that Junior had been watching the puzzle just as carefully as Yami had.

"I am fine enough. Things just don't feel right without Yugi." As Yami placed the puzzle on the bureau he glanced at Junior, hoping he wouldn't call him out on his not-lie. Junior didn't seem particularly convinced but remained quiet.

"Over there is the last bookshelf on this floor. Ready to crawl under it?" He asked.

Yami nodded, it was just close enough to the bureau that he didn't have to worry about being too far from the puzzle. He then managed to push down the last of the uncalled-for tears and refocus on finding the card. He still felt like garbage, but now at least he was in control of his own body again.

Junior grunted as he lifted the shelves for Yami to look under. Once again, the Pharoah found nothing. With a frustrated sigh, Yami started to back up, accidentally hitting his head on the way out. As he did, an old metal box slipped from the top and toppled past. The two watched as it bounced down the stairs and crashed on the lower floor.

"I got it!" His mom- Yui called from the bottom as she grabbed the box. "Huh, so that's where your mother's old sewing kit went." Her voice grew more distant as she walked away. "We don't need it upstairs. I'll just put it in the junk box."

"The ever-growing junk box. Who knew all it would take for us Mutos to clean out our stuff was magical intervention?" Junior joked as he put down the bookshelf. Yami only chuckled flatly in response.

The two then surveyed the top floor as the disheartening fact hit them, there was nowhere left for them to look. Worry wrenched it's way back into Yami's heart. _There was nowhere left to look._

"I summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon to da field!" Joey's voice drifted up to the two. Yami turned to Junior with a frown. Junior copied the helpless look as they both headed for the bottom floor. As they passed by, Yami picked up the Millennium Puzzle. He tied it around his belt again and didn't give it another look. No new feelings forced their way into him, but that didn't exactly make him feel better.

Joey had been attempting to summon Red-Eyes's spirit since the group got back. Téa had been working with him in the main shop area using holograms to see if they could get the spirit to appear. Junior and Yami would have helped, but Junior was the only one strong enough to lift furniture, and Yami was the only one small enough to fit under said furniture. But maybe they could help now, just so they weren't uselessly standing by.

Yami pushed aside the curtains separating the shop from the house to see an enormous black dragon standing in front of him, with its head casually going through the ceiling.

"I'm guessing if there was a spirit in that hologram, he'd bend down." Téa sighed as she lowered her arm with Yugi's borrowed duel disk attached. In front of her were two angel monsters, also only holograms.

"He'd always come when I summoned him in past duels. Maybe you have to try and win dis time?" Joey said, trying to keep his voice optimistic. Téa did as asked. She tribute summoned Guardian Angel Joan and attacked. Once the light dissipated, the dragon did its preprogrammed death animation and disappeared. A beeping from Joey's disk signaled he lost the duel.

"Drats. I really thought dat'd work." Joey sighed as he leaned on the glass counter. The two then turned to the Mutos in the doorway, a hopeful look returning to both their faces.

"Sorry, I didn't see anything that you guys might have missed. And there was no mysterious card upstairs." Yami said. Both Joey and Téa deflated as Junior agreed with Yami.

Junior then went over to the glass counter full of cards."None of these guys have spirits we can talk to?" He asked as he went around back and opened the case.

"No, not even Dark Magician is coming to me when I try to summon him," Yami said, hiding how much fear that fact instilled in him. He instead watched as Junior went through the displayed cards. After a bit of searching, the man paused at one specific card.

"I know this card had a spirit in it. I've met her before." Junior said as he brought out the ripped Blue-Eyes White Dragon card.

"Really? I suppose that would make sense." Yami said as he took the card and looked over the clear tape covering its rip. He had no idea how a tear like that would affect the duel spirit, if at all.

"Let me see it real quick." Joey swiped the card from his friend and started another duel with Téa. The group quickly figured out that KaibaCorp systems wouldn't accept the torn card. Joey growled and started an old fashion duel on a nearby table. Once he tribute summoned the white dragon, they all held their breaths, but no spirit appeared.

Junior picked up the card. "Come on. When I didn't want you, you were always one step behind me. Now we need you." Nothing changed. "I apologize for throwing plates at you?"

Yami raised an eyebrow at Junior's comment but was then distracted by a knock from the front door. At the moment, they couldn't see out the windows, thanks to Grandpa having closed all the curtains. It was all to show that the shop was closed because apparently, a "we're closed" sign wasn't enough for some customers.

"Just ignore that. It is probably some kids." A dusty Grandpa said as he came into the front area. As the group was about to turn back to the Blue-Eyes card, another set of harder knocks came.

"Closed!" Grandpa yelled through the door.

"Oh, but I called ahead of time." A male voice danced in from the outside. Everyone but Junior froze at that voice. While Junior may not have recognized the voice, he immediately noticed everyone's hesitation. He then slinked to the curtains and glanced through the side of them, so the person outside wouldn't be able to see in. As he peeked, his expression grew confused.

"Were we expecting Pegasus?" He asked. Both Yami and Grandpa shook their heads.

"But you told me it was fine he was coming?" Yui said as she came into the room. She was covered head to toe in dust and cobwebs, just like Grandpa.

"When did I tell you that?" Yami asked.

"When I called you at the police station? Both he and Joey called not two minutes from each other. Yugi always named him as a friend, so when he called to come over, I thought you knew."

Yami took in a deep breath and rubbed his temples. "Curse Yugi and his need to adopt everyone." He grumbled under his breath as he strode to the door and threw it open.

There in the hot summer sun was the immaculate Maximillion Pegasus. "Ah, Yugi-boy. Good to see you, though from the sounds of it, there has been some confusion."

"Hello, Pegasus," Yami flatly answered. "What are you doing here?"

"Is seeing an old friend, not enough? If not a friend, then I must be allowed to see the king of games when I'm in town." Yami was going about closing the door when Pegasus said in a much less flowery tone. "And I need your help." Yami paused. "It's the duel spirits. They're in danger."

Yami looked back to the group to make sure they heard that. Grandpa was the farthest from the door with his son standing protectively in front of him. Joey and Téa were on either side of the door, out of Pegasus's line of sight but ready to jump in if needed. They each had the same surprised face. After a few moments, Grandpa nodding led everyone else to nod too.

"We have our own problems at the moment," Yami said as he opened the door to let Pegasus in.

"Then perhaps we can help each other once again." Pegasus quickly gained back his smile and walked into the shop like he owned it. Yami then led Pegasus to the area to the side of the shop that was set up with tables for tournaments and game nights. By the time the two sat down, Junior had ushered Grandpa and Yui back into the house portion. He then blocked the dividing curtains by standing in front of them.

"Ah, and you must be Mr. Muto. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Your son has done quite a bit for my little game." Pegasus smiled Junior's way. In return, the father only crossed his arms and stared Pegasus down.

"You have also done a great deal to my sons, and family," Junior said in a low tone, neither accusatory nor friendly.

"Sons, huh?" Pegasus said in surprise at the plural usage.

"Why are you here, Pegasus?" Joey cut in as he sat next to Yami.

"Yeah, why come in person instead of sending a VCR tape or something?" Téa added.

"Well, with the VCR growing obsolete, I wanted to send a DVD your way, but I couldn't pick one up in time." Pegasus snickered. When no one else joined him on his joke, he sighed. He placed his hands on the table in front of him as his gaze fell.

"Have you had any contact with your partners? Your card spirits?" Pegasus asked. He then glanced at Junior to gauge his reaction. When Junior didn't stare at him like he was a crazy man, he turned his attention back to the teens.

"Does this have to do with the holograms going wild earlier? Or the disappearing spirits?" Téa asked.

"Do ya know what's goin' on? We need my Red-Eyes, yet he's been a no show." Joey added.

"Why do you need Red-Eyes Black Dragon?" Pegasus asked, his voice growing worried. He then shook his head. "That doesn't matter at the moment. Pharaoh, have you talked to any of your spirits?"

"I believe we asked you some questions first," Yami said.

Pegasus's expression showed he seemed intent on getting his question answered, but he quietly relented. "The holograms were going crazy earlier because it was many desperate duel spirits' last attempt at getting back to their dimension before they ran out of energy. They failed, and now most spirits are in a coma-like state."

"They are?!" Téa gasped as her hands covered her mouth.

"Are those spirits, ok?" Joey asked, glancing to Yami for his reaction. While Yami was taken by surprise, he hid it under his regal veil. He still didn't entirely trust Pegasus, and he wanted to keep his cards close to his chest around the old game creator.

"No, they are not going to be ok. Duel spirits can't stay in the human world for extended periods. With no energy to project themselves in this dimension, the weaker ones are slowly fading away." Pegasus explained.

Yami studied the man carefully, trying to find any hidden agenda or dangerous intent. But Pegasus honestly seemed worried for the spirits. While in the past, Pegasus had been good at hiding his true intentions, Yami couldn't find any reason for him to hide such purposes this time. Yami then glanced at Junior, wondering if his better-trained eyes caught anything. Junior quickly caught Yami's line of sight. He nodded; he saw nothing wrong from his end either.

"I'm guessing it was the lockdown that caused them to be stuck here. Is that why we can't find Red-Eyes or Dark Magician? We saw them only yesterday, now they're gone." Yami asked

"You know of the lockdown? It's why I came to you. I wanted to know if you knew why it started. World-ending troubles do usually revolve around you." Pegasus said.

"Yeah, Red-Eyes accidentally caused it with a wishin' well and some Gandora," Joey added.

"Gandora?" Pegasus repeated. He then looked back to Junior, like he was expecting something from the man. Junior only raised an eyebrow as Pegasus glanced at him. Pegasus then shook his head and faced the three again. "It's only the weaker monsters that are in comas at the moment. Strong ones like Red-Eyes and Dark Magician should be fine, for now."

"Then, why aren't dey comin' to us?!" Joey asked, real worry working its way into his voice. He had just barely learned of his spirit partner's presence, and he was already worried about losing him.

"I… do not know." Pegasus paused. "If they aren't in comas already… If I know Red-Eyes, he was always a sucker for the plea of other monsters. Perhaps he is busy trying to help them? I can easily see him being distracted by every little cry for help." Joey seemed both relieved and annoyed that Pegasus knew more about Red-Eyes than he did.

"And for Dark Magician. I honestly have no clue. That being has always been an enigma to me and other spirits." Pegasus admitted. "I could equally see him resting on Jupiter at this moment as to being right behind you for how odd of a spirit he is." Yami's gaze fell to the deck strapped to his side. So even Pegasus was baffled by his spirit partner.

"Well, how do we find Red-eyes den? We need him!" Joey demanded.

"I believe it's time for you to answer some of my questions. Why do you need Red-Eyes? And what about this Gandora?" Pegasus said.

While Yami had some lingering distrust of the game creator, he hadn't done anything evil in years. What's more, he could lead to more answers. Because at the moment, they were all stuck. Yami and his friends quickly explained what they knew of the lockdown and the Legendary Knight's Banishment.

"Now, I understand why you need Red-Eyes, he's one-third of your plan," Pegasus said.

"More dan one-third, he's da one with da entire plan! It seems like you understand more what his plan was dan we do." Joey sighed.

"He didn't explain how this was going to work, just that he needed Dark Magician, a Blue-Eyes, and that glowing red card from earlier. But we have no idea where that card could be." Téa said.

"It wouldn't work now even if you did find it." Pegasus sighed as he rubbed his forehead. Everyone froze at that. It had been a tentative plan to begin with, but it had been all they had. Yami once again had to fight back a building tidal wave of worry to keep his face blank.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked in a low voice.

"The first part of the plan would work fine. Bringing together the cards of Dark Magician, Blue-Eyes, and Red-Eyes would summon the Knights here just as if you had used their duel monster cards. The problem is getting past the lockdown. It was put in place to stop the great Leviathan from attacking if the Knights were killed. It is one of the most powerful barriers duel spirits can make without a human. It can't be broken from the outside, even by the Knights. But the Knights do have the ability to work around it. You just need a card with a fresh connection to the spirit world."

"A what?" The three asked in unison.

"A fresh connection, something like a new card. It would make a pathway to travel through the lockdown." Pegasus repeated. When the three continued to look confused, Pegasus sighed.

"Indulge me in a bit of storytelling for a moment. Thanks to my research and my time with the Millennium Eye, I recreated ancient magic dating all the way back to the Atlanteans. The power to summon duel spirits using the soul of a human as a base. Of course, I recreated that magic with only paper and ink. Every time a card is printed, there is a chance a spirit will resonate with it. When that happens, the duel spirit can use it as a free teleporter between the two worlds. When this resonation first happens, it is at its strongest. I believe that is why Red-Eyes wanted that glowing card. He must have thought it had a new connection since it took Yugi through the lockdown. Sadly, even if it did, it would be too weak now."

"So, we just have to make another card, right?" Joey said as he jumped to his feet. "Just keep making cards until a spirit resonates!"

Pegasus shook his head. "It's more complicated than that. A card takes a whole day to make without my machines on the west coast. And even if I did make one by hand, it still might not work. A duel spirit has to want to make a connection the moment I finish the card. Most spirits that want to come here have already chosen a card, and with this lockdown, younger spirits wouldn't want to make a new connection."

Everyone fell silent. Yami felt as a block of ice slid down his throat and rested on his heart. He couldn't keep the frown off his face as his hands gripped until his knuckles turned white. They were running out of time for not just Yugi, and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. He should have had some fantastic plan to save them all, or some way he could duel out of this, it was his job as the Pharoah. Yet there was no big villain he could face or ancient card to use. He could feel all their eyes on him as he was once again failing everyone.

"Could you recreate an old card?" Junior spoke up for the first time. Yami couldn't hide his jolt of surprise as they all turned to see Junior walk up to the table.

"Recreate?" Pegasus asked. Junior then lifted up Grandpa's Blue-Eyes card.

"This spirit was very set on protecting us back in the day. Then she suddenly stopped appearing. I'm guessing having her card ripped destroyed her… teleporter."

Pegasus's eyes widened as he looked at the old card. "That… That could work." He then looked to the curtains that separated the house and the shop. There Grandpa and Yui could be seen peeking through. "With the supplies I have now, it wouldn't be an official duel monster card. It couldn't be used in duels, but it will allow the spirit to connect with it, if she wishes."

Junior looked down at the card and seemed almost ashamed. "Yami? Do you think this Blue-Eyes will want to come back? I wasn't... exactly the best to her when she was around."

Yami stood up and walked over to the taped card. He had not known the dragon long. But the one duel he used her in, or more accurately, the duel she was used against him in, she sacrificed herself so Yami would win. If she was anything like Kaiba's current Blue-Eyes, she would want to get back to Grandpa as quickly as she could. "I believe so. She'll jump at the opportunity to come to the human world again. I can feel it." Yami felt a little odd saying that last part. It wasn't just him that knew that Blue-Eyes wanted back, but somehow, he knew Yugi agreed with him. Yami's hand fell to the puzzle in surprise, but no other weird feelings followed that.

"If it is ok Solomon, I'll take your card for a bit as I create a copy," Pegasus said to the hiding Grandpa.

The old man jumped in surprise but then strode through the curtain, the picture of confidence. "Yes, just get my grandson back."

"I'll try, but I can only create the card. It's up to the Blue-Eyes if she'll bond with it. But it is a good start with how little time we have. We already have Red-Eye's and Dark Magician's card... Now there's finding one of Seto's Blue-Eyes cards. And it has to be one of dear Kaiba's Blue-Eyes, he was the one that bonded with Critias."

The group glanced at each other worriedly as Junior cringed. Seto would be hard to convince. It might have been easier to ask him to give his entire fortune to the war effort than give up one of his Blue-Eyes. As Yami thought of Seto, a simmering worry started to bubble up. Something about the thought of Kaiba worried Yami, but he couldn't pinpoint why. Yami eventually pushed his concern aside. This had to be just another uncalled-for emotion.

"I'd like to know where Red-Eyes is too," Joey said.

"We only need the card. The spirit is irrelevant at the moment." Pegasus said.

Joey slightly puffed out his chest. "I need to know where my buddy is."

Pegasus studied Joey for a few moments before smiling. "Of course you do, Joseph. I always love it when a spirit finds the perfect human. Perhaps you would like to come with me then?"

Joey immediately backed up as he glanced suspiciously at Pegasus. "Why?"

"I know a few spirits that are still awake, some with the ability to locate other spirits if they have a human to focus their search. Perhaps the pharaoh would like to come too?"

Yami really thought about it, his hand resting on his deck. To find Dark Magician, to know his silent partner was ok. His fists then curled as he let out a reluctant breath.

"We only need the card?" Yami asked.

"Correct."

"Then I trust Dark Magician to be safe," Yami said with more confidence than he felt. "I need to spend my time getting that Blue-Eyes card. I'm probably the only one that can convince Kaiba."

"Ok, I suppose I'm going with..." Joey tried to hide it, but Yami could see him nervously gulp. "...Pegasus then."

"I'll come with you, Joey," Téa said as she went to stand by her friend's side.

As she passed Yami, Téa whispered. "If Pegasus tries anything funny, I'll call. And if you need help with Kaiba, you better do the same." She gave him a determined smile that Yami nodded to.

"Sounds like a plan then. We'll be back as soon as I almost complete the card. I'll finish the card here when we need the connection." Pegasus said.

As Pegasus walked to the front door Junior once again tried to stand in-between Pegasus and Grandpa. When Pegasus noticed he merely chuckled. "Quite the protective Gandora." He said under his breath. Only Yami was close enough to hear him say it. His heart stopped at those words. Did the game creator somehow know of his father- Junior's past? Then Yami heard Pegasus continue to speak to himself as he left the shop. "No, not just a Gandora, too changed of a soul for that. A dragon of demolition, that has to be it. I have to sketch this idea down before it leaves me. Remind me, Joseph."

Neither Yami nor Joey could make heads or tails of what Pegasus was talking about, but Yami guessed it wasn't about his father's old name. He reluctantly let Pegasus go. He would just have to trust that Pegasus cared more for the spirits than any revenge.

…

After one more check through the house, everyone prepared for the next problem. Yami was about to start figuring out the herculean task of getting Seto to separate with one of his beloved Blue-Eyes when his headache suddenly became a hot streak of agony. It felt like his head was determined to split in half then and there. Yami bit his lips to hold back a yelp as he nearly collapsed.

"Are you ok?!" Junior asked as he caught Yami.

"My… head… It's never hurt this bad." Yami whispered as he had to shut his eyes just to keep the light out. Then he began to wobble on his feet as his world started revolving. As Junior steadied him, Yami felt as tears began streaming down his face. Yet it wasn't from the pain or distress.

"Yami?" Junior asked as his eyes grew wider. Grandpa soon came over too and gripped Yami's shoulder.

"I-I don't know what's wrong." Yami managed to say. He had to sit on the floor just so he wouldn't fall over. Junior called for Yui, but Yami didn't hear any reply. Then as quickly as it came, the pain and the tears were gone. Or at least it wasn't as intense, he still had that stubborn headache.

"Yami, you need to lie down," Grandpa said.

"I'm better now," Yami said as he leaned on Junior to stand up. The pharaoh rubbed his head, trying to figure out what happened when he noticed it. His heart stopped as he looked down at the stone puzzle around his belt. It had cracks running throughout it. Not the lines created by the puzzle pieces fitting together, but the grave signs of damage.

"When did this happen?!" Yami gasped as he held up the puzzle. Both Grandpa and Junior looked at the item in confusion. "I haven't hit the puzzle on anything, right? Right?!"

"Let's… let's sit you down. You look on the verge of collapse." Junior said as he led Yami to the next room over and had him sit on the couch.

Yami kept his eyes on the puzzle. 'When had the puzzle been damaged?!' He then looked to Grandpa for any help. While it looked like he wanted to speak some words of comfort, he could only shake his head.

"I haven't seen you knock it on anything."

Yami was about to speak when that strange dark pulse returned. The pain and whirl of emotions that followed nearly made Yami retch. Once again, his feelings went all over the place as he curled into a ball. He wanted to simultaneously laugh and cry, and both for different, unexplainable reasons.

"Yui! We need you!" Grandpa yelled. Yami cringed at his grandfather's volume. It at first made his headache spike, but then it all fell away once again, pulling the strange emotions with it. Yami felt exhausted as he laid on his side, gasping for air. Then he looked down at the puzzle to see a new crack in its rough surface.

Just then, the front doorbell went off.

"I got it! You guys deal with Yami." Junior yelled as he ran to the door. Yami started focusing on the puzzle again when Junior's next strangled gasp made Yami's blood freeze. "Roland?"

This made all of Yami's frozen cogs kick into overdrive. 'Why would Roland be here? That would mean Seto wasn't far behind. Why would Kaiba… be…here...!' Yami forced himself to his feet (dodging Grandpa's grasp) and bolted for the front of the shop with what little strength he had left. How could he have forgotten?!

Standing in the doorway was indeed Roland. He looked extra uncomfortable, getting even worse as Junior continued to stare in shocked silence. Roland then coughed into his hand and stood as straight as he could (he also stopped a salute midway up and glued his arms to his side). Junior's eyes grew wide, then narrowed. He had only just noticed the KaibaCorp logo on Roland's clothes.

"Drago- Greetings, Mr. Muto. Seto Kaiba wishes to speak with you personally."

The world seemed to stop for Yami. How had he forgotten about Seto no doubt knowing about Junior, all thanks to himself?! In Yami's eyes, being nearly shot by robbers and the constant barrage of revelations and plans that were these last few days was not a good enough reason. The pharaoh had put Yugi's father in danger, and he completely forgot!

Yami was about to step forward when the house shook under Junior's force.

"NOPE!" Junior slammed the door right in Roland's face, turned a hundred and eighty degrees, and strode into the back of the house. The entire time saying, "Nope, nope, no, not today, no thanks."

"Pharoah? Yami! What is going on?" Grandpa finally caught up to him. He tried to make the pharaoh face him, but Yami pulled away and ran to the front door. Yami didn't know what he was planning to do when he opened the door. But he wasn't going to stand by as Kaiba preceded to snip this final "loose end." The lack of a plan was made even worse when it wasn't Roland standing in the doorway anymore, but Seto Kaiba standing there with his arms crossed.

"I thought you'd be next to open the door. Now, before the Dragon of Destruction does something he'll regret, bring your father out here."

Yami wanted to respond to Seto, to tell him off or somehow distract him, but he was cut short. Yami's entire body went numb. Headache and all other feelings left him. Yami tried to speak or even gasp, but nothing worked as he collapsed.

Seto, in utter shock, caught him. Yami was pretty sure his family began yelling something, Seto even seemed to be shouting orders at Roland. Yami couldn't react as the world slowly grew darker. A feeling did return though, but it was no sensation Yami wanted. The headache had evolved into long cracks of pain across him. It felt like his very body was crumbling in on itself.

Yami was able to glance once more at the puzzle before the edging darkness took his vision and his awareness. The tip of the puzzle's apex had chipped off.


	29. Intertwined

"What do you mean he's running out of time?!" Yugi gasped at Blue-Eyes's words. At the Pharaoh's mention, Yugi immediately pushed off the dragon's head and managed to stand on his own. Be it be a very wobbly stance.

The dragon shifted uncomfortably as her tail whipped back and forth. "Yugi…" He felt the inner argument broiling within her, even if Yugi couldn't hear her exact thoughts. "I need you to sit down before we discuss this. You can barely stand as it is."

Yugi grumbled under his breath but relented. He found a relatively clear spot on the ground and flopped down, ash kicking up around him. As he sat, he found he needed to rub his forehead to lessen the pain of the headache and the pressure of this time crunch bearing down on him. Once again, he felt as if the world was on his shoulders. He remembered back to the Duel Spirits Hero prophecy and swallowed a sour taste from the back of his throat. He certainly didn't feel like a hero at the moment.

Blue-Eyes gently lowered herself to lay beside him, circling him with her body and tail. She gingerly bumped Yugi's side, but he was in no mood for her attempted comfort.

"Yugi, may I see your puzzle?" Blue-Eyes eventually asked. Yugi's brows furrowed but he took off the puzzle and let Blue-Eyes look it over. It was then Yugi noticed it, deep cracks in the item. It seemed to steal all the breath from his lungs. What had only felt like a fragile puzzle before now truly looked like it would shatter at any moment. Blue-Eyes saw this too and sadly nodded.

"Dark Magician Girl and I didn't want to tell you since we couldn't do anything about it. But it was stupid of us to expect a Muto to stay still," Blue-Eyes whispered as she studied the puzzle.

"What is going on?! Did I do this? Is this why the Pharaoh is running out of time?!" Yugi gasped as he pulled the puzzle protectively to his chest.

"This is absolutely not your doing!" Blue-Eyes growled. "That star-cursed wishing well cannot create. When it brought you here, it had to split the Millennium Puzzle's power between you and the Pharaoh to create a circumstance where you both had some form of a body. This was, of course, an uneven split."

Yugi's eyes widened as he felt his headache get a little worse, at the same time, another small crack appeared on the puzzle.

"Is that what you meant by three-fourths of a body?" Yugi whispered as he clutched the puzzle.

"We found this out while you were unconscious and did those tests on your soul. You are not a whole person right now; you are split with the Pharaoh. Thankfully you have most of the body and none of the darkness that comes with that puzzle. Probably because it is your body that is physically being split, and it is not your soul that is being used to lock away-"

"What about the Pharaoh! Is he ok?!" Yugi cut in as he got on his knees to face the dragon.

Blue-Eyes closed her eyes and turned to the sky, her wings laying flatly against her side. "The Pharaoh…Well, he has much less of a body. He would be mostly a projection of the puzzle at the moment. Depending on how long it's stored magic can last… How have you been feeling? Anything I cannot pick up from our link? You two are still connected. Your feelings will reflect his."

Yugi looked into himself as he gently laid the necklace around his neck, still hugging the pyramid close. "I've had a headache for a while now, and I've gotten tired easier. But it hasn't been too bad." Yugi then shifted the puzzle in his grip. "Well, it hasn't been too bad until now."

"Multiply that by about five, and that is the Pharaoh right now." Yugi looked up in utter horror. Blue-Eyes grimaced under his gaze but continued. "You see why we have to focus on this lockdown. If we don't get you two back together soon, his body will continue to decay. If it gets to the point that puzzle breaks, then…"

Blue-Eyes didn't have to finish the thought for Yugi to feel sick to his stomach. As his insides twisted in knots, Yugi tried to once again reach into his mind. He hadn't attempted to contact the Pharaoh since his first few failed attempts when he initially landed in this dimension. But he had to try, he had to know how his partner was doing. But nothing came, not his voice or even a flicker of his presence. All Yugi felt was confused and very scared.

'Pharaoh, please…'

…

Yami groaned. Something had nudged him, and he wasn't in the mood to be awoken. He didn't have to open his eyes to know where he was. That chilled air and that weightless feeling as he laid on what should have been solid rock. He was in the Millennium Puzzle. It was familiar, probably the most recognizable place Yami had been since Yugi had first freed him. But familiar didn't mean comfortable. He hated it here, the confusing passages, the oppressive atmosphere, and the alarming feeling that something else was here, always just a step behind him. It may have been his soul's residence for who knows how many years, but it definitely was not his home.

Yami felt another annoyingly strange nudge and forced his eyes open. The black ceiling was the only thing to greet him. As he laid there, he tried to remember what was going on. He hadn't suddenly woken up in the puzzle without remembering how he got there in a long, _long_ time. He shivered as he quickly threw the memory of his first time waking up in this prison into the farthest recesses of his mind.

Yami then stood up, or he tried to stand up. One leg found ground while the other slipped into open air as the bricks underneath it crumbled away. He gasped as he realized he was lying right next to a ledge over an endless void. He immediately rolled from the edge and threw himself to the nearest "solid" (for there honestly weren't many stable things in this place) pillar. He then watched as where he had laid broke away and fell into the void below.

Yami stood there for a few moments, gasping, his mind reeling with questions. Then his memory caught up. The headaches, the cracks! Yami grasped at his chest but found to his continued horror that the puzzle was gone, even if his pain was. He always had the item around his neck when in his soul room before. Ignoring how impossible it was to be wearing a thing he was also inside of, he frantically looked around the area.

Yami was currently facing where the door to Yugi's room should have been. Instead, it looked like a giant had come through and violently ripped out the wall, hallway, and Yugi's room, leaving nothing but a gaping hole to prove anything had been there at all. Yami swallowed hard, the last time he had been here certainly wasn't this bad. While Yugi's room had been gone, there had been a door and a hallway for Yami to run through. Now there was nothing but ruins.

"Yugi…" Yami whispered. His hand unconsciously reached out towards the hole.

…

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" Yugi demanded.

"Because we couldn't do anything about it! We cannot send you back with the lockdown, and we cannot figure out how to fix the lockdown with the Silents and Gandora breathing down our necks! Both refuse to listen to reason. I am told the Gandora have rejected Dark Magician Girl's multiple attempts at peace. And the Silents don't care about the lockdown or the hundreds of spirits in danger. In fact, they think it is great! 'A chance for the world to see how useless the Knights were compared to us!'" Blue-Eyes roared.

Blue-Eyes then took in a deep breath and shifted away from Yugi, forcing her muscles to relax. "We tried to keep healing you to slow the decay. It's why I wanted you to stay in the healing wing so badly. I didn't want to scare you, but… Even in your time away, the puzzle has broken faster than before. Healing must have done nothing to stop it."

Yugi sat frozen, unsure of what to feel. His heart seemed to want to beat right out of his chest. Each beat becoming another stroke on their fast running out clock.

"Please, Yugi. I know how terrible this situation is. But fighting the Silents will take time and maybe lives. If you talk to the Gandora, maybe we can end this quickly. Getting you back to Yami sooner." Blue-Eyes pleaded.

"But just giving over the other Gandora won't be much better! Even if they respected me, which they don't, they will still fight to stay free."

"A fight that the Silents will keep to the ravines. A fight that the Gandora will lose."

"I can't just give an entire archetype over to enslavement!" Yugi shouted as he stood up, fighting back tears. He may not have been forced to sleep at the time, but he was still exhausted, fatigued, in pain, and about as emotionally drained as Yugi had ever been. Yugi then looked back to Blue-Eyes, still awake as ever. A strange question forced its way to the front of Yugi's thoughts.

"How are you even still awake?" he asked, pointing to his knocked-out friends.

Blue-Eyes shifted uncomfortably and pointed to her scar with her wingtip. "I don't fully exist in this plane of reality. Back then with Kaiba… I stayed as long as I could before he ripped my anchor point. But I cut it much too close…" Yugi felt her pain and embarrassment flow through their mental link. Yugi shook his head, realizing this was a topic he needed no further explanation on.

"I understand." Yugi murmured as he sat back down.

Yugi had been everyone's rock this adventure, and he'd been happy to be as such. But it was all catching up to him now. He honestly just wanted to go home, to see his friends, to check on the Pharaoh, and finally see his dad in person again. But then all this happened. He refused to blame anyone, but he was very close to yelling at the sky until destiny finally stopped beating on him and his friends. The weight that had been on his shoulder before now seemed to crush him. He NEEDED to get back to the Pharaoh. The Nameless Pharaoh was counting on him.

…

Yami forced himself to survey the rest of the tomb. He saw that it wasn't just the chasm to Yugi's missing room that was falling apart. While this place had never followed the laws of physics to begin with, this was strange even for it. The thousands of levitating staircases and walkways were now slowly disintegrating in front of his eyes. Their broken bricks sometimes continued floating in place. Other times they crashed to the lower floors. Columns that once were the only proof of some structure in this twisted place were soon collapsing after the stairs.

Yami had to jump away as a pillar toppled nearly on top of him. Its clatter shook the very floor he stood on. Then cracks spread from the fallen support. They reach far, including going right under Yami, moving as if they had a mind of their own. Anything the cracks spread across soon shattered as if smashed under considerable force. Then everything would fall silently into the void, far beyond Yami's sight.

Yami immediately started running, to where he had no idea. He never had an idea as to "where" when he explored this place in the past. But at the moment, the Pharaoh at least knew falling into the void would not end well for him. And that was honestly more information than this place had ever given him before.

_Come now. Come now, Pharaoh._

The entire time Yami ran, he began to feel the presence of something behind him. While that wasn't unusual for the puzzle, what was new was he actually saw something. He could only describe them as shadows. Amorphous, dark creatures that should have only been tricks of the light somehow given life. They slithered after him, appearing from every dark corner and seemingly multiplying after every turn. Reaching, grasping, working with the crumbling bricks to trap him. Yami continued to run and dodge their sudden attacks. All the weakness and pain he had felt before was gone, but that didn't make evasion any easier. When the Pharaoh even so much as grazed their shadowy tendrils, he felt sudden emotions surged through him like venom. Fear, pain, grief, betrayal, they all forced themselves into him and then ebbed away as he continued to run.

_Rejoin us. Rejoin us._

Yami had no idea where these shadows came from, but like everything in this accursed puzzle, they were familiar to him. During his thousands of years of being locked away, he knew them. Oh, he knew them _well_. He knew them so personally at one point, he was nearly one of them. It was only Yugi, his friends, and their compassion that freed him from that fate. Once Yami stopped playing his shadow games these, things_, _started to drift away. By the time he was fully in his right mind again, they had entirely disappeared. He had to admit he almost forgot about them, half the time wondering if his insane mind had simply made them up so he wasn't alone here.

'Oh, they're real!' Yami thought to himself as he had to escape up a set of upside-down stairs, using the handrails almost like monkey bars. He then leaped from the stairs to a higher level, managing to grab onto a ledge. He began to pull himself up when he felt that hopeless chill return and wrap firmly around one of his legs. Yami lost a handhold as more of his ledge broke. He couldn't help but look down to see the void swirling beneath him.

_Come now -. Rejoin us in the eternity your - cursed us with!_

Yami swore they didn't speak a human language for parts of that sentence. But he certainly didn't care to ruminate on that at the moment. He tried to fight against their pull, but his strength was waning. He was filled with so much hate and fear, along with the freezing touch they brought. His last hand was already slipping when he felt the brick crumble under his grip.

Yami fell, the chill spreading past his leg to consume him. It was odd. As he prepared to be sucked down with these shadows he didn't panic, instead, he merely closed his eyes. Being something in a sea of nothing, as he had described it in the gas station. It was such a familiar sensation; he had no choice but to accept it. Five thousand years of being nothing.

Then Yami felt a set of warm hands grab him. They yanked him from the shadows' hold and pulled him over the ledge.

This newcomer's warmth was a slap to Yami's senses. 'What am I doing?! I'm not going to just accept this!' Yami thought. He then shook off the intense emotions and jumped to his feet.

…

Blue-Eyes slowly laid her head beside Yugi. Her deep eyes had grown soft as she let her prideful persona fall. She was clearly just as tired as Yugi. "Perhaps we don't have to give the Gandora over. At least not permanently." Blue-Eyes softly spoke.

Yugi paused and looked over to her, hope flickering in his chest. "How?"

Blue-Eyes clicked her tongue uncomfortably. "This plan is very… shameful, but it might be all we have. At first, we have to let the Silents take the Gandora. But if you can get the Gandora in on this plan, we can learn where the warriors are keeping them before giving them over. When this whole lockdown is over, and the Knights are back. We can break them out, with as many strong monsters on our side as we can get. The Knights will also most certainly help!" Blue-Eyes said, forcing her voice to be optimistic.

Yugi deflated after hearing Blue-Eyes's plan. "But we don't know how long it'll take for us to get back to them. We also don't know if the Warriors will move them in that time, let alone send more into battle or worse-" As Yugi spoke, he felt his headache throb. He gritted his teeth as his hand rested on his forehead. Time, time, time, he didn't have time for this!

The quickest and easiest way to solve this problem was to lead the Silents to the Gandora. Yugi knew as soon as he sided with the Silents the whole domain would be behind him. They could get it done quickly, painlessly. Yugi wouldn't let them take his Gandora, but what would it do to his friend to see the rest of her race enslaved once again? Even if it was just for a little while. Then again, his Gandora had even suggested surrendering before, but… Every cell of Yugi was telling him that was wrong. He couldn't let these dragons fall victim to some nebulous war, he had dealt with that pain too often with his own father. But did he have time?! Many lives were in danger. The Pharaoh was fading away at this very moment because of a stupid decision from one of his "friends."

Yugi grimaced as he fought the tears that were still working their way up. It felt like his chest had tightened to the point no air could get in. The guilt that had been boiling in Yugi these last few months once again surfaced. This swirl of negativity wasn't just for thinking about not going immediately to the Pharaoh, this guilt had been darkening his thoughts for a long time. It was this guilt that had led Yugi to so easily push the Pharaoh out of the Seal of Orichalcos all those months ago. It was the same guilt that had ruined Egypt for Yugi and made him fear for the future.

The Pharaoh relied entirely on Yugi. Without him there, the Pharaoh would still be trapped in the puzzle. He had made it clear in the past how tortuous being alone in that place was. While it was the Pharaoh's self-appointed duty to protect him, Yugi had his own mission. He had to help the Pharaoh anyway he could because, without Yugi, there would be no pharaoh. There would be no savor of the world. There would be no dear friend to Joey, Tristan, Bakura, or Téa. There would be no Yami. And it would be all Yugi's fault.

Soon many other toxic thoughts flowed into Yugi's mind, as it always did whenever Yugi tried to face this guilt. Whether it be whenever Yugi thought of the future or thought of being separate from the Pharaoh. It was Yugi's duty to be at the Pharaoh's side, and if that meant pushing aside his own wants and morals, wasn't that what was required of him as the Pharaoh's host?

…

"Run!" A male voice ordered. Yami immediately followed without question, the destruction and shadows following close behind. It was only when the two were running through a tight passage that the Pharaoh saw the face of who saved him. His white hair seemed to glow in the gloom of the puzzle.

"Bakura?" Yami gasped. What was at first shock then turned to anger. He realized it wasn't his friend in front of him. "What are you doing here, Yami Bakura?!"

"What am I doing here?! What are you doing here!" Bakura barked back.

Yami wanted to stop running, to face his old adversary and figure out what was going on. But he knew he could only stay in front of the cataclysm for so long, and Yami Bakura seemed to know where he was going. But as the Pharaoh learned well the last few years, he should not trust Yami Bakura, no matter what.

Yami began planning to break off from Bakura when he felt another chilling tug, this time on his arm. He was yanked backward as the shadows and cracks pulled him towards the void.

"Stop! Don't you understand that destroying him now will just pull us all into the netherworld!?" Bakura yelled as he grabbed Yami's other hand and pulled him to his feet. The shadows didn't seem to listen as they continued to reach for the Pharoah.

As soon as Yami found his strength, he jerked his hand from Bakura's and started running again, not following Bakura this time.

"Wait! Don't go there! It leads back into the destruction!" Bakura yelled.

"Why should I trust you? How are you even here!?" Yami demanded, stopping for precious seconds to face his old enemy. Bakura stood there, a snarl on his face, but Yami could see his eyes ever so slightly dart back and forth.

"I… I am not the real Bakura. I'm just an image your mind made up. You do this with all the great villains that traumatized you. You should feel grateful that I found you instead of fake Dartz or Marik. They would have let you fall."

Every cell of Yami's screamed that this Bakura was lying. The Pharaoh prepared to run.

"Think about it! How could the spirit of the ring even get in here?! The last time Bakura held the puzzle was years ago before Battle City, and even that was definitely the good Bakura." Yami took another step back. "And if this was part of some crazy plan, wouldn't the real Yami Bakura have already done something about it, not sit on this plan for years?! You have to trust me!" Bakura nearly begged.

Yami turned away from Bakura. If anything, what he said made Yami more suspicious. Why would this seeming "image" of an enemy know so many facts that the Pharaoh himself forgot? But right at that moment, another pillar crashed in front of Yami, missing him by mere inches.

"Come on!" This Bakura shouted as he ran up a flight of stairs. Yami looked to the destruction barreling towards him and followed. But he was certainly not going to blindly trust this "image."

"Ok then, if you're from my mind, can you tell me what is going on? What are those things?!" Yami shouted as he caught up to the white-haired boy.

"Those 'things' are - - - - -." Yami Bakura began to explain when he suddenly started speaking in nearly inhuman tones that made Yami's skin crawl. The confusion must have been clear on Yami's face as Bakura turned away with a growl. He uttered a string of curses under his breath, a few Yami didn't recognize, and then turned back. "They are a… monster. Yes, a monster called Kul Elna."

"A monster? What is it doing in the puzzle?! And why is it so angry at me?" Yami asked as the two continued to dodge the racing desolation. The look Bakura gave nearly made Yami pause. He seemed tired, just as tired as Yami had felt earlier that day. It was a strange reminder that the spirit from the ring, whether real or his own imaginings, was just as old as the Pharaoh.

"The Millenium Items are a prison to more souls than just yours. And this… Kul Elna has been here much longer than you." Bakura said in a surprisingly weak voice for the maniac. "With how fragile the puzzle is, their restraints have been loosened. I'm sure you felt them when you were still on the outside."

Yami gulped. He had barely survived his own time locked in the puzzle. The thought that something else had been here even longer…

"Here." Bakura suddenly turned off into a lit corridor and pulled Yami in with him.

Yami looked up in surprise to see no traps activated like in most large rooms. Instead, this was a somewhat lit and decorated area, the wall covered in hieroglyphics. By the far wall, a central sarcophagus laid. It was open with nothing inside. Surrounding this casket was similarly empty coffins. The only other notable feature was on the wall. A carving of the millennium eye with a knife stabbed through it.

"This area is the mental remnants of a room made by another power. Kul Elna won't come in here. But the destruction will happily tear through this place, so we must be quick." Bakura said as Yami looked around. Bakura then gripped both of Yami's shoulder.

"Where is Yugi?!" Bakura demanded.

…

"That is absolutely **not **what your relationship with the pharaoh is about." Yugi jumped as Blue-Eyes spoke. Her voice was harsh, but her eyes soft.

"What?" Yugi asked.

"I can read your mind, remember?" Blue-Eyes said. Yugi's face turned a tint of red as he realized he just had an internal argument with an audience.

Blue-Eyes then stretched her head forward to gently touch foreheads with the small human. "Yugi, Yugi, Yugi…" She sighed. She seemed to take in a deep breath, thinking for a while before she spoke.

"You know of my archetypes need to align ourselves with a strong human?" Yugi nodded. "Most duel monsters see it as very odd and even a little unhealthy. But we Blue-Eyes don't see it as such, it is a sense of pride for us. From the moment we are strong enough to project ourselves in the human world, we have a longing. The need to find our 'other self' in the human world." She then smiled to Yugi as she gently booped him. "I know you have felt what I am talking about."

Yugi's hand was still on the puzzle. The two looked down at it for a few moments, the cracks in it slowly etching along. Yugi then looked back to Blue-Eyes as she grew sad.

"There are only four Blue-Eyes left. We have many off-shoots in our archetype, but there are only four original Blue-Eyes. Well, to be more accurate, there are three. While I can't stand the males and they can't stand me, the other female was a dear friend of mine. She found her human long before me. She became so close to her partner that when that human so desperately wanted to stay, even after her death, that…" Blue-Eyes became very quiet. "Well, you will meet them soon enough, I suppose." She then grew quiet for many moments.

"Blue-Eyes?" Yugi urged.

"I am sorry, this is no time for reminiscing. What I am trying to get at is I, as a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, know the strong bond you have with the Pharaoh, and it is not just because I invade your brain occasionally. I know how awful it feels to be apart from them, the lengths we will go for our chosen partners. But even for me, a dragon biologically driven to connect myself to humans, can see that your thought process is toxic."

"Hey-!" Blue-Eyes cut Yugi off by placing the tip of her tail on his lips.

"Let me finish." She snipped. Once Yugi took a deep breath and nodded, she continued. "You don't own your very life to this Pharaoh just because you got saddled with him," Blue-Eyes said.

"But I do! He has given me everything, magic, courage, and…" Yugi then paused. He looked over to Silent's and Kuriboh's sleeping body. He remembered back to her talk with him in the prophecy room. The freeing feeling he had felt back then, a reminder that Yugi was his own person. The Pharaoh helped him, and he helped the Pharaoh, but that was because they were friends and partners.

"Yugi," Blue-Eyes said in a whisper, occasionally glancing at Yugi's group of spirit friends. "Aligning with your family has given me so much. From adventures with your grandfather, to watching you grow up. These things I treasure deeply, but your family is not my whole life. And that is not just because we were ripped apart. Once I came to terms with the fact I couldn't be with you guys anymore, I moved on. I had a very fulfilling life before you were yanked in here by some trap card."

Yugi was about to speak up again, but Blue-Eyes pressed her tail a little harder to his lips.

"I am not saying to abandon the Pharaoh, I still very much think we have to focus on getting you back. But I do not want you jumping into this if your heart absolutely screams no, just because you feel beholden to the Pharaoh. If you think it is truly right to get to the Pharaoh as soon as possible, then I will back you all the way. But do not choose it because you feel like it is your only choice as the Pharaoh's companion. You are not a parasite and host; you are friends and partners!"

'Partners.' Yugi repeated in his head. He then forced himself to think more about why he felt so guilty. Yugi was allowed to want other things than to be by the Pharaoh's side. He could live without the Pharaoh, but that didn't mean he wanted to, and he wasn't selfish for thinking that.

Yugi swallowed hard. He looked down at the puzzle again, while it had many cracks, no large pieces had chipped off. All the things his friends, human, and spirit, had said to encourage him in the past seemed to come flooding into his head (Blue-Eyes may or may not having helped with that). He was his own person, and so was the Pharaoh. They were more than just separate personalities like Marik and his Yami. They definitely were not abuser and victim like the Bakuras. And they were definitely more than god and follower like Dartz and the Leviathan. They were friends and partners.

They needed to get back to the Pharaoh and save those spirits trapped in the human world, but not at the cost of an entire archetype. Yugi thought it probably wasn't the smartest decision, but it was the only one his morals could choose at that moment.

Yugi felt his tears finally broke forth and streamed down his cheeks. He was so tired. But there was still so much to do. Yugi still felt guilty for this decision, but more for the pain and danger the Pharaoh might be going through at the moment. Yugi knew how strong the Pharoah was though. The spirit would survive anything thrown at him.

…

Yami quickly summed up their situation to Yami Bakura, something he had gotten quite good at summarizing thanks to these last few days. He made sure to keep out certain personal parts, he still didn't trust this Bakura.

Once done, Yami Bakura looked utterly shocked. He at first denied what the Pharoah told him. But Yami's stern reminders of what they were hiding from made him go silent. Bakura's arms fell limply to his side as he stared wide-eyed at nothing in particular. He ended up sitting on one of the discarded coffin lids and resting his head in his hands.

"Thousands and thousands of years of planning. All to be thrown out the window by one random dragon." He groaned into his hands.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked as he took a protective step away.

"Isn't it clear? Without Yugi's soul, this place is falling apart. The Millennium Items need a modern holder to function. Do you think I- the real Yami Bakura is using your friend's body because it's fun?! And if the Millennium Puzzle isn't functioning, you and all the souls here get sucked into the netherworld!" Bakura shouted as he slammed his fist down on the lid.

Yami watched as Bakura started muttering as he ran his hands through his hair. Yami was unsure of what to say. How much should he give away to this "image." How much had he given away already?

"Do you mean we'll go to the afterlife?" Yami asked, the concept putting both fear and curiosity into him.

Bakura paused in his rantings. Then a chuckle that sent a shiver up Yami's spine broke from his lips. "Oh no, that would be too easy. I forget just how much you really don't know." Bakura then snapped his attention to the Pharaoh. "You sacrificed yourself to stop -." He paused after another unintelligible series of syllables. "To stop the shadow games, correct? You at least understand me in this?"

"Yes." Yami tentatively said.

"Well, when the great - " Bakura paused again, an annoyed scowl deepening in his face. Then he tried explaining again. "…When a dark being is destroyed, it doesn't go to the afterlife everyone else does. The netherworld is the place for these - …. truly evil entities. In sacrificing yourself, you would have - -… Oh, deck it and your erasure magic!" Bakura pointed at Yami like it was somehow his fault he was speaking in gibberish. "You would have been pulled down along with us. But since your dear - didn't want to curse you to that fate, they used the Millennium items to - - - until we could be properly - -. The Millennium Puzzle is the centerpiece of all this magic. No modern holder, no Millennium Puzzle, no magic keeping us in this realm!" Bakura shouted.

Just then, the whole room began to shake. Yami nearly lost his footing, and Bakura jumped to his feet. As Yami reoriented himself, he noticed there seemed to be a dark aura growing around Bakura, one he hadn't noticed before.

"It's nearly over." He said in a desperate, near mad voice. "All our planning, scheming, and years spent trapped. It's all going to be for nothing."

"It's not over yet," Yami grunted as he righted himself. "We have a plan to get to the world of the spirits."

"Yeah, a plan that you won't be there for. The fact you are even in this place means the puzzle can't project your soul in the body anymore. You going down will take any connection that Dark Magician card has with you."

Yami still stood firm. "I refuse to give up! There has to be a way for me to get back out there."

Bakura silently looked over Yami in some dark form of pity. The Pharoah growled and turned towards the doorway out.

"There's going to be nothing for you out there," Bakura said.

"There has to be some hidden power left in this puzzle! It just has to be strong enough to last until Pegasus gets back. If you want to stay here fine, but I'm not sitting back and accepting this!" Yami said.

Bakura looked almost annoyed, then he met the Pharaoh's determined eyes. His pity slowly turned to a thoughtful expression. His face darkened as he reached up to his chest, seemingly grasping for a ring that wasn't there. Then his hand fell to his side.

"Your resolve has always been such a thorn in our side. But, we suppose it is that same fortitude that has allowed your soul to survive this long…" He then locked eyes with Yami, that same insane grin that never seemed to fit Bakura's face stretched across his features.

"Bakura?" Yami warned as he took another step back.

"Ironic how these things turn out. If we want to destroy your soul, we'll have to give you ours first. Even if it's just a small piece."

Yami tried to hide his widening eyes but failed. "Bakura?!"

"Oh, it's not permanent. Once you get Yugi's stabilizing soul, we'll literally be kicked out. And you better get Yugi back. We refuse to make room for another soul in this fusion of ours!"

With an animalistic growl, Bakura lunged at Yami. The Pharaoh had no time to react. He wanted to pull away and dodge this clearly mad man. But for one Bakura was too quick, and two, the collision never came. Everything seemed to dissolve around Yami right before Bakura touched him.

Yami was falling, it was the only sensation he felt. But it was only for a few moments, the crash came soon enough. He groaned as headaches, bodily pain, and fatigue swept through him. He was lying on his side on some sort of cushion with his eyes firmly shut. Then the loud shouting made him wince even further. Hadn't Kaiba learned to keep his voice down yet?

…

'Please hold on for a bit longer, Pharaoh. This may be selfish of me to trade some dragons for everyone in danger. But I refuse to make that trade.' Yugi thought.

"As you wish." Blue-Eyes sighed, but Yugi heard deep relief in her words. She clearly didn't even like her own plan. "Then what are we going to do?"

Yugi's gaze fell on Blue-Eyes's scar. Then slowly, his gaze went to Marshmallon and Silent. An idea popped into his head so suddenly that even Blue-Eyes jumped in surprise. Yugi's grin returned with a vengeance.

"Blue-Eyes! If we are going to stop the Silents from taking the Gandora, then those dragons have to be able to save themselves. If they are going to stay in this domain, we need the people to want to have them here. If we all as a Domain agree to protect the Gandora, maybe we have a chance to do this with no fighting." Yugi said as he tried to jump to his feet. It ended up being more of a stumble with Blue-Eyes supporting him, but that didn't stop Yugi. He was already distracted by figuring out each step that'll have to be taken before everyone wakes up.

"Alright, but even someone as revered as you will have a hard time convincing everyone in this domain to support these dragons. They have not exactly made the best impression." Blue-Eyes said as she followed alongside Yugi. She could no longer follow his rapid-fire thoughts. She still grinned. This is what she loved about the Mutos and Yugi in particular. Their power came not in physical strength, but their willpower, heart, and strategical skills.

"That's why the Gandora will have to learn how to save themselves. They need to prove they can help this domain and have the drive to be members of this society." Yugi then glanced at Marshmallon. "And I have an idea of how they can do that. I need to talk to Dark Magician and Giga. But before all that, we have so much to do while everyone is asleep. The Silents may have had time to prepare an attack. But we have time to prepare a defense."


	30. Static and Sleep

**A/N: I'm so sorry this is late. I promise this isn't laziness talking when I say I absolutely had no time to write this. Working in the medical industry at this time, plus trying to finish school online, plus studying for my medical boards, left precious time for hobbies. I know I should have considered that and postponed this chapter last time I uploaded, but I was stubborn. Anyway, your not here to read about my busy life or excuses. So know that I am really sorry for the delay and hope the next three weeks are less busy. Thank you for continuing to read, and I hope you are all safe and happy during this... "fun" time.**

"This is not the time for-" Kaiba's voice was the first to break through the fog of Yami's brain, and it was swiftly followed by Yui's shouts.

"HE HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG IN THESE LAST FEW YEARS!" Even as every other sentence was cut off by Yui violently coughing, she still refused to stop.

Yami shifted, he was on his side and felt horrible. Along with that cursed headache, his entire body felt as if it was filled with heavy static. Every single nerve and cell seemed to be simultaneously pricked as this bodily white-noise weighed him down. It wasn't agony as his pain was before, but he certainly wasn't comfortable.

Yami then heard as Seto sighed and spoke in a detached tone. "That doesn't change the fact that he is a loose end. The government certainly wouldn't hide him anymore if it got out to the public what he did."

Yami's eyes popped open. He was lying on the couch in the living room. In front of him was Yui currently being held back by Grandpa. Her face was tomato red and Grandpa's ghost white as she continued to rail into the stone-faced Kaiba. Roland was blocking the door leading to the shop. He was sweating up a storm as he watched Kaiba and this clearly crazy woman argue. Beside him was an emotionless Junior. Junior's eyes held no light as he silently watched the scene. His only movement would be the occasional glance at Roland, or more accurately, the door he was blocking.

"WHAT ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT?! MY HUSBAND IS A KIND AND SWEET MAN THAT HAS DONE NOTHING YOU CRAZED, DARK-HEARTED…" Yui went on, angrily defending her husband in the worst way possible. Yami then looked to Kaiba.

Seto stood firm, his arms crossed. Yami was surprised to see him staying here. Kaiba wasn't usually the type to stick around if he felt it was a waste of time. And being yelled at by a stranger was definitely something he would consider a waste. And why was he even here?

Sure, Kaiba would doggedly attack any flaws he saw in his company, especially if they had to do with his step-father, but coming now? It made no sense with the PR nightmare caused this morning by the duel spirits wreaking havoc with the holograms. Did Seto really see Junior as that much of a threat to make time for him? Yami then could only groan when he thought about it. While he knew Junior would never do anything to hurt KaibaCorp, Kaiba didn't. All the CEO had to go on was Gozaburo's records, records that no doubt called Junior a crazed murder with a lot of KaibaCorp blackmail. Yet, that reasoning still didn't feel right to Yami. If that was the case, Kaiba could have merely sent his people or even Alister as he had threatened earlier to deal with Junior. Why did he come here himself?

Yami wanted to sit up but found his body still refused to move. That painful static that filled him weighed down every one of his limbs, he was immobile. As Yami began to slightly worry (because Pharaohs never panicked), he felt something new grow within him. His eyes fell on the Millennium Puzzle. It had been laid in front of him on the couch. The pyramid was in pieces, more pieces than just the apex being chipped off. Yami could only stare as he felt a now familiar dark pulse ripple through his body. But for once, a worse headache didn't follow. Instead, the eye on the puzzle briefly sparked, too quick for even the others in the room to notice. This was followed by dark flames erupting around the puzzle. It surrounded every separate piece with its dancing darkness, silently consuming the item. The others in the room didn't even glance at it. Then with a single _click_, the flames were snuffed out, and the stone parts pushed themselves back together. The puzzle was still covered with cracks, but it was whole once again.

With that click, all the static left Yami in a rush. Even his headache left him. Instead, the pharaoh felt as they were replaced with an eerie, all-consuming chill. The earlier pains may have spread across his body, but they paled in comparison to how wholly this chill enveloped him. Yami felt like he had been plunged deep into a frozen lake. And yet, his body reacted like he was still at room temperature. He had no goosebumps, no raised hairs, not even the need to shiver. As Yami marveled at this new sensation, he realized he could move again. First, it was simply flicking his fingers, then he slowly raised his head.

Yui's shouting recaptured Yami's attention. Had her voice always been that... annoying? She clearly was making their situation worse. Yet, that woman just wouldn't stop. Didn't she know yelling at Kaiba would only make him treat Junior harsher? Grandpa, too seemed to change. He was suddenly so weak in Yami's eyes, irritatingly so. He was smarter than this, why would he let Yui continually dig the family into a grave? As Yami tried to figure out how to stop them, his eyes drifted to the other villain in the room. Kaiba suddenly had all of Yami's attention. The pharaoh's mouth turned down into a snarl. Just looking at Seto made his blood boil. That man's, no, that boy who pretended to be a man. That boy's blue eyes were too familiar. Every part of Yami suddenly had the burning need to _strangle that smug priest_-

Yami paused. Priest?

Yami gritted his teeth and pushed against this chill, along with the thoughts it brought. There was no way they were his own, and he refused to let it consume him. He closed his eyes and tuned out the situation around him. He reached deep inside him and found a flame. The embers of what he could only describe as the determination to remain in control. Slowly he let it ebb out from his center, and the chill fled from it. While Yami would have been thrilled to completely rid himself of the cold, his body immediately collapsed onto the couch. Every place the ice left, the heavy static returned to. And the inability to move following that.

Yami almost wanted to laugh. It was going to be a balancing act then.

"Please, Ma'am!" Roland's voice broke through Yui's continued tirade. "What Mr. Kaiba was trying to say was we just want to focus on getting your boy to a hospital. Sure, we may have come for- to talk to your husband. But that clearly isn't what is important right now."

"YEAH?! I KNOW THAT! BUT UNLESS YOU CAN FIX STUPID CURSED ITEMS, I DOUBT YOU TWO COULD DO ANYTHING-"

Yami then suddenly had a horrible feeling, separate from the war within his soul. His eyes flicked open and flashed to Junior. He saw as Junior slowly moved his hand to the junk box to his left, the same junk box the Mutos' had been slowly growing through the day. On top laid a few old awards, most from Yugi and Grandpa, and some scattered pieces of Grandma Muto's sewing kit. There Junior grabbed a large, crystalline trophy Yugi had won a while back. No one seemed to notice as he hid it behind his back, not even Roland, who was next to him. Yami then watched as those emotionless eyes narrowed. Yami recognized that look from the gas station. The twisted grin might not have been there, but the shiver that went down the pharaoh's spine was the same. Junior must have been scared and felt cornered. He started to raise the sharp ended trophy, positioning to strike Roland.

Yami felt as his body slowly responded to his fear. It felt like every message, every nerve impulse had to slog through the sea of static that filled him. He couldn't let Junior run! Yami let the ice spread through him once again.

"Dad…" Yami meant to yell, but it only came out in a whimper.

Junior's eyes suddenly widened. His whole body froze. Then, in a rush, he dropped the trophy and ran to Yami's side. Roland only then seemed to remember Junior. He didn't even see the discarded award, but he did misinterpret Junior's lunge to be aimed at Kaiba. He reached out and yanked Junior back.

Junior's eyes narrowed as a guttural growl ripped from his lips. He grabbed Roland right back and bent forward, enough to flip Roland over his shoulder. He threw Roland onto the floor and jumped over him to get to Yami's side. He then knelt down and took one of the pharaoh's hands. His hands were scalding to Yami's senses. In fact, his mere body heat seemed to burn. But Yami held on tightly, desperately. He used this new warmth as an anchor point to once again chase away the creeping ice.

"You're ok?" Junior asked. Yami was barely able to nod back. Then he fell back onto the couch, still clutching Junior's hand. "Not ok then." Junior breathed.

Junior closed his eyes and released a deep sigh. He then stood up and faced the others, letting go of Yami's hand in the process. Yami tried to hold on to the warmth for as long as his strength let him. But his arm eventually limply fell, landing right on top of the puzzle. Only then did Yami realize just where the chill had originated from. The pyramid felt like a glacier.

"You can stop trying to stall now, Yui," Junior said.

Yui paused in surprise. "But-" Junior silently shook his head, and Yui didn't continue. They all then turned back to Kaiba.

Kaiba stood unphased in the same spot. To his side was Roland, still lying flat on his back. Kaiba looked less surprised at Junior's show of strength and more disappointed in his right-hand man. Roland then slowly got up, rubbing his head. When he got to his feet, he began to reach for his phone, but a no from Kaiba stopped him. Seto then turned his cold eyes back on Junior.

"Stalling?" Seto coolly asked.

"It was an old plan we made together years ago if your father ever came after us. She would act the angry housewife to distract while I… It doesn't matter now. Roland is right, we have to get Yami to a hospital."

"Wait!" Yami yelped. He was just as surprised as the rest of the family at his volume. He didn't think he had it in him compared to his last feeble attempt at speaking. But this time, he had willingly let the cold consume him.

…

Yugi couldn't help but stare at the magic barrier that surrounded the mountain top. It took up so much of the peak that Blue-Eyes couldn't even land.

"We really can't get to the Silents while they are sleeping." Yugi sighed. This was why he had spent the last few hours setting everything up below the mountain, but he still had held out some hope.

"Correct, even I cannot break through it," Blue-Eyes said as she soared by. The dark color of the bubble stopped Yugi from seeing inside. He couldn't even see the wishing well.

"Do you think they might have made a wish on it? The wishing well, I mean." Yugi yawned as Blue-Eyes began her descent down the mountain. She was a much better flier than Gandora, making the trip up and down the mountain much quicker.

"Hphm? Oh, I hope. I would love to see the wishing well curse them. But I doubt they would understand how to get it to activate. If Silent Magician did not know about the well beforehand, I do not think they would either. They might not even know it's the Wishing Well trap card." Blue-Eyes said.

Yugi couldn't help but look one last time at the peak before it disappeared behind the perfectly puffy clouds.

"You know I still have my wish. If we thought of a well-worded request, maybe we could end this all much quicker than planned. I could sneak up while the Silents are heading down and-"

"Do not think about it. Even if we did not have thousands of years of horrible results from that well, it would still be putting you in a great deal of peril. I already think these ideas of yours are too dangerous. I will not allow you to put yourself in more danger on a tiny hope."

"We are already relying on a lot of hope. Hope that the Gandora and Silents see reason. Hope that the creatures in this domain don't hold grudges." Yugi sighed.

"Those hopes I feel better about betting on," Blue-Eyes grunted.

"I suppose." Yugi yawned. He was half-asleep at this point and was talking more to keep himself from nodding off.

Blue-Eyes fell silent as she began to carefully navigate what seemed like open-air beside the mountainside. She nimbly ducked and dived, looking almost to be dancing in the air before returning to her routine flight down. Blue-Eyes had masterfully avoided activating the trap card Yugi had put on this elevation of the mountain. There were many such traps that could only be avoided by flying in a specific way beside the mountain. Something the landbound Silents had no chance of avoiding, Yugi hoped.

"Thank you again for helping figure out how a human could set trap cards in this dimension. Though I suppose I shouldn't be calling them trap cards since no cards are involved here. Trap spells?" Yugi said.

"We duel spirits originally called them curses. Incantations mixed with physical items to cause some effect when activated. I believe it was the Egyptians that first referred to them as traps, and it has stuck ever since."

Blue-Eyes glanced back to see Yugi starting to slide off her in his barely awake state. She gently bumped Yugi to re-center him. "So why did you choose the Intruder Alarm - Yellow Alert trap for that elevation of the mountain?" She continued, trying to keep Yugi awake.

"Huh? Oh, it's so if the Silents come down with only the thought of fighting in their hearts, with no hope of convincing them, we'll be teleported immediately to them. We'll have both the element of surprise and our answer on what path we need to take. If they pass by the trigger point with some hope of peace, as I expect, the trap will break, and we'll have some warning that they're coming." Yugi sleepily explained. Blue-Eyes nodded, already knowing all this. She knew of each trap laid and Yugi's reasoning for each one. It was her magic that Yugi had to rely on to set all his traps. A human could only lay real curses in this world with the power of a spirit partner.

Blue-Eyes' thoughts were then directed towards a small cave on the side of the mountain. She immediately turned around and headed for it.

"Huh?" Yugi murmured, too tired to fully word a question.

"We may not be forced to sleep like everyone else, but we still need to rest," Blue-Eyes said as she landed in the cave. It was small, only about twenty feet deep, and the ceiling was so low that Blue-Eyes had to bend down.

"Hey, I recognize this cave," Yugi said as he clumsily slid off Blue-Eyes.

"You do?"

"Yes, Gandora took us here when she first snatched us from Giga," Yugi smiled. "Ok then, a quick nap and back to work."

"No, we sleep. You definitely need it." Blue-Eyes said as she started circling in one spot. Once happy with her bedding, she flopped down.

"But we still have so much to do!"

"Do we? We have set up all the traps you planned for, have rough speeches already thought out for talking to your friends. And for talking to Dark Magician Girl, the Gandora, and the Silents. There is little else we can do with everyone else sleeping, and us being exhausted would not help the situation in the slightest."

"Yeah, but we could still hammer out some more details. Like, what we would do it the domain inhabitants don't listen to Silent Magician and Marshmallon? Or what if Marshmallon decides they want nothing to-" Blue-Eyes used her tail to pull Yugi to her side and forced him to sit. As she expected, he immediately laid against her.

"Of all your strategies, I'm surprised you never considered your own health in them." Blue-Eyes chuckled. Yugi only vaguely grumbled at her as he finally fell asleep.

Blue-Eyes put her own head down. She'd wake him thirty minutes before everyone else awoke. Then they would race over to the clearing where Yugi's friends were. Convincing them of Yugi's plan wouldn't be hard, it is the next step that would be tricky. Convincing Dark Magician Girl.

It wasn't that Dark Magician Girl didn't want peace without selling out the Gandora. It's just as the domain leader it was Dark Magician Girl's job to be the voice for her people, even if she didn't always agree with what their voices were. Add on how the Gandora had hurt both her body and pride, and Blue-Eyes wasn't sure if their plan A would collapse before it began. Blue-Eyes then sighed. They then would just move to plan J. If Dark Magician wanted to help but couldn't for some reason, then plan K. If that didn't work, then plan R or C. And so on and so on. This alphabet of contingencies having been thought out almost entirely by Yugi.

Blue-Eyes curled closer around the sleeping human. Yugi was quite the little mastermind when given the time and incentive (something school seemed to have failed him in). She supposed that's why he was so good at dueling and games in general. He really was the King of Games when he wanted to be. Bad situations were never an obstacle for him. They were more like twists and turns on a labyrinth he was both building and navigating at the same time. He always seemed to know there was an exit for him, even if he had to construct one himself ten "turns" ago. Even with reading his mind, Blue-Eyes could barely comprehend what was going on in there when he got strategizing.

Blue-eyes then used her tail to gently lift the puzzle still around Yugi's neck. It looked on the verge of collapsing under its own weight. The item had continued to gain cracks during their scheming, and Blue-eyes knew it must have caused a great deal of discomfort for Yugi. Yet he never let on to it. He was too focused on saving his friends.

Blue-Eyes couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Good thing he had such a kind heart and didn't lust for power, or she would be truly worried for the world. She had already seen the repercussions of one dangerous Muto; she didn't want to witness another of Yugi's caliber.

No. Blue-Eyes decided that wasn't how she should have been thinking, especially at that moment. She chose to side with all Mutos, and she was standing by that pact. The ones that should be worried at that moment was the Silents and Gandora. They better be ready to play along, or they would end up in Yugi's very own shadow game.

…

"Yui's right, I don't need a hospital. There's nothing for them to do." Yami accepted the cold this time and used it to pull himself to his feet. It was clear that the others didn't want him to stand, Junior even tried to gently push him back. Yami ignored his attempts and instead used him for balance.

"Yami, I don't think-" Junior began to whisper.

"I said I was fine." Yami snapped. He was about to turn to Seto when he paused. Yami studied Junior for a moment, almost as if this was his first time seeing him. Then a strange thought entered Yami's head, he didn't recognize Junior. He knew Kaiba and Solomon, and even Yui had some vague recognition. Yet, Junior felt like a complete stranger. Yami, naturally, didn't understand where these thoughts were coming from. Of course he knew his family. He had known them for the last few years, even if Junior wasn't always around.

_The priest, the vizier, the lesser wife, and… Ah, of course. The old fool couldn't make it, having given his soul in penance. So he sent his monster. What desperation._

Yami immediately tensed up. Those were definitely not his thoughts, yet they were spoken (thought?) in his voice. And was that chuckling he heard at the end? Yami immediately pushed back against any sense of cold in his body. The ice willingly retreated this time and was instantly replaced. Yami collapsed hard onto Junior.

"Yami!" His family gasped as Seto turned to Roland, ordering him to call a helicopter. Junior caught Yami and slowly placed him back on the couch.

"No!" Yami managed to shout. He didn't have a solid reason for why he felt this so strongly, but he was absolutely not going to a hospital. Maybe it would somehow get in the way of finding Yugi, or somehow leave Junior open to attack from KaibaCorp? Yami wasn't sure of even his own feelings anymore, but he did know one thing. He had to be strong, it was his job as the pharaoh. It was his duty to his new family.

Yami let the cold return, slowly, almost with a mental warning. Soon Yami found his limbs able to move again with no strange thoughts following. He once again got to his feet and faced Kaiba.

"Why are you here?" Yami asked in a low voice.

Seto looked perplexed as Yami fought to stand. "Why are you so against going to a hospital? You clearly need it, Muto."

"That's not what I asked," Yami growled. Everyone in the room glanced at each other worriedly, everyone but Kaiba, who kept his eyes on Yami.

"Shouldn't that be clear? You so kindly told me about the location of a dangerous criminal last night. Of course, I would come to see for myself." Kaiba said, quickly glancing at Junior as the man grimaced.

"No, there's more to it than that. You're too smart to just come rushing over, especially with your company undoubtedly coming under fire with people still scared over the holograms. The last time monsters roamed free would still be too fresh in their mind for them not to be hounding KaibaCorp over the recent chaos. Yet, you take time to come here for a decade's old feud." Yami slowly spoke, every word somehow making him angrier at Kaiba. He tried to fight the venom, but he needed to be able to move.

Kaiba didn't speak at first, merely studying Yami. Then he turned back to Roland.

"Continue for the request for medical transport-"

"I said, no!" Yami shot back. He just couldn't think straight at that moment. Everyone somehow was making him so frustrated with their mere presence. Especially Kaiba. "If you won't tell me in words, then I'll just have to get the truth out in other ways." Everyone watched, shocked, as Yami stumbled over to the junk box, and pulled a duel disk out. "You wanted a duel so badly last night, here's your chance!"

Kaiba paused, but that infuriating smirk soon returned to his face. "As you wish."


	31. Duel and Peace

It had been an hour after the domain let its inhabitance wake up. The unmoving sun bared down on the mountain's highest peak, but the Silents didn't notice it in their magical barrier.

"Reporting in Sir. We found the pharaoh. He's with a group of monsters somewhat near Dark Magician Girl's Castle." Silent Paladin wrote in her floating green lettering. 'This group consists of the fallen Blue-Eyes, the broodmother, Silent Magician, many Kuribohs, and most surprisingly of all, the Mad Builder. We couldn't hear what the pharaoh was telling them, but it has them quite agitated."

Silent Paladin kept her report floating to the side of Silent Swordsman's face, as was polite in Silent society. Yet, even though Swordsman gave her the specific command to come to him immediately when they had sights on the pharaoh, he didn't acknowledge her words. He was instead studying something a little way down the mountainside.

Silent Paladin waited patiently a few more moments before making her words flash. Again, Silent Swordsman didn't turn to her. The Paladin then started to fidget in place, she thought about using what was left of her voice to get his attention but held back. The more powerful a Silent was, the more they lost their voice. She wasn't about to advertise her power level, even with tiny vocal sounds.

Silent Paladin stood resolutely quiet and waited. Silent Swordsman continued to not notice her (there was no way he was just ignoring her, right?). Only for both of them to jump when a voice shouted from across the clearing.

"Swordsman! We have another request, this time from Hero City!" Silent Messenger yelled as she flitted up to Silent Swordsman. Silent Paladin hid her glare under a false smile. Of course, it was only then that Silent Swordsman turned.

Silent Messenger was a young humanoid with pearl skin, silver feathered wings on her arms, and golden-clawed avian feet. This duel spirit also donned the famous white and blue tunic of the Silent archetype. The girl looked more like she belonged in the harpy archetype than the Silents, though, Silent Paladin supposed that's what the stars intended with their species. For the Silents to represent each of the duel monster types and even specific fighting disciplines. All to be better protectors of the varied domains…

"Paladin!" Silent Swordsman's silver message appeared right in front of Silent Paladin's face. She jumped from her thoughts and audibly yelped. She couldn't hide how her red cheeks turned for making a sound like that.

"Messenger has told me that even Hero City wishes for us to return to controlling the dimensional barrier if we can end the lockdown." Silent Swordsman explained with a smile, ignoring Silent Paladin's embarrassment.

"Even Hero City? But that domain wouldn't even let us in their border when we were trying to find the Gandora cure." Silent Paladin wrote in disbelief.

"Yep, I just got their message myself." Silent Messenger said. "If we start spreading out, we can have every bit of the barrier manned, and we can end this… lockdown…. by…" Silent Messenger slowly petered off when she realized she was making plans without Silent Swordsman's permission. Both female monsters looked tensely to the swordsman. Even in his lowest leveled form, each knew he could easily show his displeasure when his authority was ignored, purposefully or accidentally. Both were relieved to see Silent Swordsman not paying attention to them. Instead, he was studying the mountainside again.

"Do those boulders look a little odd to you two?" Silent Swordsman wrote without turning to the two.

"Which boulders, sir?" Silent Paladin asked. A silver arrow then appeared in the air and pointed out of the protective bubble surrounding their camp. Both girls looked over at the collection of large rocks in a trench. They looked about as natural as this domain could make. The rock pile-up was probably caused by stones rolling down from the peak and getting stuck in a ditch. Silent Messenger was the first to give up and shrug. Silent Paladin though, kept looking over the landscape to find any sign of what Silent Swordsman was talking about. While she couldn't see anything weird about it, she didn't want to seem clueless.

"Is it a trap, sir? Maybe a spell? If it is a laid spell, I can use one of my many abilities to stop it, if you wish." Silent Paladin said while puffing out her chest.

Silent Swordsman didn't read Silent Paladin's words and instead picked up a rock to throw at the pile-up. It clacked against one of the large boulders, but nothing happened.

"Keep your eye on that Messenger. Now, Paladin, you had a report too?"

"Yes! Spy has his eye on the pharaoh." Silent Paladin said as she pointed to Silent Spy on the other side of the mountain peak, using his magic eyeglass to look down through the cover of clouds and attempt to hear the pharaoh's words.

"Good, we will need as much information as we can gather before we go down the mountain."

"Sir?" Silent Paladin accidentally spoke out loud. The hesitation in her voice made Silent Swordsman turn back to her.

"I doubt the pharaoh will just let us take the Gandora, even though it is the best option for him. We will just have to hope Dark Magician Girl and maybe even Silent Magician can convince him to do the smart thing."

"But, sir." Silent Paladin wrote this time. She knew very well how careful she had to be with these next words. "I don't mean to question you, sir. It is just, we are still going after the Gandora? Even with monsters stuck in the human world? We can end the lockdown now if we as an archetype take control of the barrier. I'm sure that is a better use of energy than chasing these dragons." She waited with held breath for his reaction.

Silent Swordsman, turned away from her and looked down the mountain. A clearing in the perfect clouds allowed him some glimpses of the monster villages below. "Say we did go and stop the lockdown now? Do you know what would happen? The Legendary Knights would immediately come back and retake the barrier. We'd maybe get a pat on the back for the good deed and we would be back to square one."

"But the duel spirits stuck in our sister dimension cannot last forever." Silent Paladin gained enough bravery to write. She immediately regretted it by the look Silent Swordsman shot her. That wild look in his eyes, and an almost cracked smile. She had seen it before when he was in the midst of battle, surrounded by total destruction. He seemed to love the chaos almost as much as the dragons they were chasing seemed to.

"You are very right, my dear. And that fact is making the monsters in this dimension very desperate. It is also showing them just how useless the Knights were. I want them to come crawling to us, not just sending messages. I want to make them regret what they've done to our once proud archetype. Do not worry. The time for action is fast approaching. As we wait, we might as well capture the Gandora. Helping in two ways, making the warrior army happy," he then looked towards Dark Magician Girl's castle. "... And showing all other domains that we aren't weak."

Silent Paladin remained quiet. Eventually, Silent Swordsman turned to read her reaction. She simply bowed to him.

"Of course, sir."

"He-Hey! Help!" The two turned as Silent Messenger shouted.

Silent Messenger had left the bubble and seemed to have tried to investigate the strange boulders herself. Her hand and feathers were currently attached to the stone as if it was made of glue. The more she struggled, the more she was sucked into the rock.

"Messenger!" Silent Paladin shouted as she too left the bubble and ran to the tinier monster's side. She immediately recognized this as a Sapsister spell and used her ability to stop it.

"Wait! That will cause the spell's other effect-" Silent Swordsman began to write but was stopped midsentence. In a flash of pastel green light, Silent Messenger was thrown from the boulders. The winged-beast went flying over Silent Paladin's head and towards the edge of the nearest cliff. Paladin was about to leap to catch her when she felt something dig painfully into her back and shoulders. She turned to see what looked like a humanoid made of melting metal grow from the remains of the spell and attack her.

In two split-second flashes of silver light, the growing humanoid was slashed in half, and Silent Messenger was caught before she fell over the edge. The two Silent women looked to see the new adult-sized Silent Swordsman. He remained ready for other traps and spells to activate, but none came. Once he was sure there was only the mountain breeze left, he put Silent Messenger down. Silent Paladin immediately ran over to her and started healing, ignoring her own injured shoulder.

As Silent Paladin checked over Silent Messenger, Silent Swordsman walked back to their barrier. "So, he did set traps... I am sure the mountainside is full of them." Silent Swordsman then snapped his fingers to get Silent Paladin's attention.

"Paladin, get Silent Shield Bearer. She can stop trap activation, right? You two go down the mountain and destroy as many spells and traps as you find. Once down, activate your other ability and summon Messenger to your side so she can tell us what path we need to take down on our march. We will make them regret their choice to fight us."

Silent Messenger looked up to Silent Paladin with a bit of worry, but the taller monster didn't react to her. Paladin simply stood up and bowed to Silent Swordsman.

"As you wish, sir."

…

As Yami and Seto took their stances on opposite sides of the living room, Yami could only think of one thing as he glared at his opponent. What in the world was he thinking?! Dueling Seto, now?! When he could barely stand and his thoughts were being taken over by creeping ice!? Yet, as he mentally yelled at himself, he still began the duel by drawing five cards.

"You don't have to do this, Yami," Junior said. "You're clearly not well."

"I'm fine! I just have…to…" Yami stammered. How could he project confidence when he didn't have a clue what he was doing? "I'm going to protect you. I know if I duel and win, Seto won't take any action against you."

"Really?" Junior sounded just about as confident as Yami felt. They both then looked to Seto. The CEO didn't say anything either for or against Yami's statement. He simply prepared his cards.

"Yes. I have always found I come to understand my opponent better when I duel them. I hope to use this to figure out what is going on with Seto." Yami said to his family with a bit more confidence. He then turned away and faced his opponent.

Yami had a pretty good beginning hand, but Seto's expression let slip he had an excellent beginning hand too. That slight rise to the edge of his lips, a small facial tick probably only Yami would recognize. It now made Yami's blood boil to see him so confident. His grip on his cards tightened because of it, to the point he nearly bent his cards. Once Yami noticed the unconscious strength, he immediately released his grip. When he did, he felt another dark pulse. It felt like some of the ice in his veins radiated out and made the air around colder. Yami was about to shrug it off as another change in temperature only he could feel when he noticed that Yui started to shiver.

Yami paused, had he really just changed the temperature in the room? Even a little change required the presence of an enormous amount of shadow magic. Yami swallowed hard. He did not like this in the slightest.

Yami knew he needed to get control of this situation. He decided to try pushing the chill from just his fingertips, to test how well he could control this sudden balancing act of crippled and cold. Yet, even with just the littlest of pushes, the entirety of the cold feeling retreated from his body. Yami nearly collapsed on the spot as he accidentally welcomed the static back.

"Is this really the time for dueling?" Grandpa worriedly asked as Yami quickly caught himself and stumbled back to his feet. Yami ignored his and the other Mutos' worry to start his turn.

"It's always time to duel." Yami had meant it more as a joke to ease the other Mutos. But his voice made it come out, for lack of a better word, cold. Even Seto raised an eyebrow at Yami's tone. "I'll begin." Yami quickly added.

The pharaoh decided to focus on the duel and summoned his Queen's Knight. He then set a few other face downs, doing his best to also ignore Seto. Yami knew he would have to face his opponent eventually, especially if he wanted to use this duel to figure Seto out, but for now, he just had to concentrate on staying sane.

'Just what's happening to me? I remember something about Yami Bakura, kinda? But these feelings and emotions definitely do not feel like Bakura's presence.' Yami thought as he rubbed his head.

"Hey, end your turn, Muto." Seto snapped. Yami jumped, not realizing how long he had been standing there doing nothing. He quickly announced he was done.

'Just what am I doing?' Yami thought, forcing himself to ignore a lot of things. Seto, his family, and the ever-dipping temperature of the room.

…

Yugi could tell Gandora wanted to pick him up, much as she did on the trip up the mountain. She restrained herself, but Yugi almost wished he could be picked up too. He was just as nervous as her going back to Dark Magician Girl.

Once Yugi and Blue-Eyes had woken up from what was supposed to be a short nap (even Blue-Eyes was shocked to see they had slept past the point everyone else had already woken up), they raced over to their friends to find them still in the ash clearing. There Yugi explained his idea to them. As expected, they were… trepidacious. But if these last few adventures had done anything for Silent Magician, Gandora, Yugi, and Kuriboh, it made them trust each other. After a bit more convincing from Yugi, the four agreed to help out.

_Step one of Plan A. Using the hour before the Silents come to see Dark Magician Girl. _(It was supposed to be two hours, but oversleeping had already caused a hiccup in the plan)._ Talk to Dark Magician Girl and see if she is willing to try for peace one more time with the Gandora._

The group prepared to fly back to Dark Magician Girl's castle. With Yugi and Silent riding on Gandora's shoulders, Blue-Eyes was saddled with carrying the remaining mob of Kuriboh, along with the surprise addition of Marshmallon. Yugi had asked the candy monster to come for proof of what the Gandora could do for the domain but hadn't actually expected them to agree. He was asking a monster he barely knew to put their life in jeopardy. Yugi was shocked when Marshmallon was quite excited to be a part of this plan, even talking about pulling their employees in to be more witnesses.

Yugi was given to understand just how influential of a duel monster Marshmallon was in this world. Apparently, this tiny monster was an immortal inventor. And while they were famous for their many discoveries, such as the bag of teleporting magic they still had strapped to their side, they were more famous for being at every significant event in duel monster history. Each time somehow always coming out with a massive profit gain, for the good and bad that meant.

'Of all the monsters Gandora could have collapsed at the door of, it just had to be this world's equivalent of a multi-billionaire.' Yugi laughed at that thought. 'What's more, she managed to win them over.' Yugi hoped this luck fell under fulfilling the prophecy, and that meant much more luck would bless them going forward. They would need it.

"I am absolutely helping a prophesied hero! Especially if it's for the freedom of such helpful dragons." Marshmallon had laughed as they had hopped onto the already encumbered Blue-Eyes.

"You are lucky I love you, Yugi," Blue-Eyes growled as the hoard of excited Kuriboh all jumped for joy on her back and wings.

"And lucky that she is too proud to ask me to split the Kuribohs among us." Gandora chuckled under her breath as the two dragons took off.

The flight back to the castle was relatively quiet. The only ones talking being Yugi and Gandora, the two happily chatting with each other. Both hoping to keep the other's spirits up. Suddenly in the back of Yugi's mind, he heard in Blue-Eyes's voice.

'I knew it.'

Yugi looked ahead to Blue-Eyes. The great dragon was flying ahead of the group of three because even though she was carrying more weight, she was still a stronger flier than Gandora. Yugi didn't think he'd be loud enough to get her attention, so he tried using their mental link.

'Was that thought from you, Blue-Eyes?'

Blue-Eyes glanced back to Yugi, and then with a sigh, slowed down her flight, so she was alongside Gandora."I suppose it was. I am surprised you heard that, being so deep in conversation with your new spirit partner." Blue-Eyes said with a half-smirk.

"Wait, what?!" Gandora, in her surprise, lost a few feet of altitude. She quickly re-corrected, but that didn't stop both Yugi's and Silent's face going a little green. "What do you mean, spirit partner? Yugi's not my spirit partner." Gandora said.

Marshmallon hopped onto Blue-Eyes's head and said. "I'm surprised, Gandora. It's quite obvious you two have made a connection. It's not unusual for a duel spirit to connect with a human, especially one with such a strong spirit as the pharaoh's. Why have you've been so against it?"

"I just didn't think it was possible. No one from the Gandora archetype had been able to make a connection like that since Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition." Gandora explained.

"Really? Well, congratulations, you two are definitely connected. I could tell in the time of this short flight." Blue-Eyes said.

"Wait, wait, wait, What? Can someone explain to the clueless human?" Yugi asked.

"We are speaking on spirit partners. I thought I already explained this to you. It's a partnership between a human and a duel monster that goes down to the spiritual level." Blue-Eyes tutted.

"Yes, you did. But what do you mean we're partners now? Being connected on a spiritual level sounded like it required a lot more work then just becoming good friends." Yugi asked.

"For some humans, it does require a lot more." Silent's blue words flickered in front of the group. "Those with weak souls have a much harder time connecting with spirits. But with strong souls it's so easy for a monster to connect with them, it can sometimes go unnoticed for both parties until the monster suddenly has a burst of power. Strong souls are like flames for us moths." She wrote as she good-naturedly bumped Yugi.

"It is also how I can be partners with your whole family without running out of soul to share. All Mutos have an innately strong soul. But even still, your soul is incredibly powerful for a human. It is probably the reason you were destined to host the Nameless Pharaoh. Or maybe because you hold the Nameless Pharaoh, your soul grew stronger?" Blue-Eyes shrugged. "I am not a soul-seer; you would have to go to the Necrovalley domain if you wanted professional measurements."

Yugi looked up to Gandora. They both had about the same expression. They didn't feel any different, there was no special spark between them. While they had grown closer than most others would have in the same time, Yugi just thought that was his personality. But as he looked up into Gandora's crimson eyes, he couldn't help but smile.

"I'm happy to be your partner Gandora. It seems like I have a few already, but I don't mind another spirit partner." Yugi's smile grew into a wide grin. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of being connected with Gandora. What better way to show her he really did care for her? "So, when do I get the ability to read your mind?"

"Remember, each partnership has a different effect. It might be a while longer before you find anything out of the ordinary. But, Gandora should have felt a growth in her power when the connection was made." Blue-Eyes said.

Silent let her legs slightly swing in the air as she thought. "You know, one thing I never understood was how strong Gandora's power was on the mountain. During the time when we were going through the riddle gauntlet? Her breath managed to ravish the mountainside when you ordered her to attack." Silent wrote.

Yugi remembered back to the riddle area. When they were running out of the castle rebuilding itself, he had ordered her to attack the wall so they could get out. That one breath attack managed to destroy the remaining riddles on the mountain. Gandora had even been surprised by her power. Yet, when Gandora attacked things like the wall hiding the Exodia puzzle or the Silents on her own, she wasn't near as powerful."

"That… Does sound like the power of a spirit partner." Gandora tentatively admitted. "Back when the Gandora were at their height in ancient times, instead of our power only being half the damage we took, it was equal or even more than the damage." Gandora started to grin as she looked back at Yugi.

"Well, there we go. But even if we weren't magically connected, I would still be by your side." Yugi grinned. Gandora happily smiled back, seeming extra giddy.

As the flight continued, Yugi found his thoughts returning to one name. "Who is Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition? It… sounds familiar, yet I don't think it's a card in my world." Yugi asked

"I don't know why it'd be familiar; I haven't brought him up before," Gandora said. She then looked to the others to see if they knew what Yugi was talking about. When they all shrugged, Gandora returned to Yugi. "I am a descendent of the Dragon of Demolition. All Gandora are nowadays, in fact. It's why we all have such a strong need not to kill, to the point the warrior army had to implant another magical ideal to fight that." Gandora explained like it was an obvious fact Yugi should already know.

In his confusion, Yugi looked to Silent and Blue-Eyes for an explanation, but it was Marshmallon that spoke up this time.

"Ah, I'm guessing this ancestor of yours lived during ancient Egypt?" Marshmallon asked. Gandora nodded. "Oh boy, that was a fun time to live through as a duel spirit." They said sarcastically. "But, at least it was better than being constantly afraid of the Great Leviathan," Marshmallon sighed with a new nostalgic tone. They then turned to Yugi.

"You see pharaoh, back during the times of the shadow games, the Egyptians had a special way of summoning a spirit to the human dimension. This would use a person's soul as a base to pull a similar spirit into the human world. This would, more often than not, force a spiritual connection between the two beings. Now, most spirits fought against this connection and would eventually disconnect, only using the connection as free teleportation between the dimensions. But if the spirit liked their human, the spirit partnership that would be forged would reach deep and far, more than any natural partnership. The human's strongest ideals would often affect the spirit's very soul and vice-versa. To the point, both their descendants would be affected by it."

"Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition was partnered with some ancient ruler, a surprisingly pacifistic ruler. We still feel his wish for peaceful solutions to this day, even if the human himself wasn't able to live up to his ideals."

"That must be… confusing with your need to, well explode…." Yugi said with a tilt of his head.

"It's actually not, at least when we aren't forced into battle every day. Destruction in its purest form is not the chaos other seem to think it is. And it definitely does not have to take lives. That old ruler understood that well."

The group then fell silent as they saw the great white castle start to peak over the massive tree line.

"Let's hope we can appeal to that want for peace then," Yugi whispered as the group began descending.

…

"I now end my turn," Yami said.

The duel had been going on for a few turns now. A few attacks had been thrown at each other, but thanks to Mirror Force and Enemy Controller, there had been no damage. And in that time, Yami had managed to get King's Knight, and in turn, Jack's Knight on to his field. All his monsters were in defense position.

"You're usually more talkative than this Yugi," Seto said as he drew a card. "Usually, you would have had at least two declarations of friendship by now. Weren't you going to try and use this duel to 'figure me out?'"

Yami forced himself to look at Seto. Just as before, he was immediately filled with rage when looking at Kaiba. "I never thought you enjoyed our little banter when dueling. Don't you prefer silence?"

"Hmm." Seto remained quiet a few more moments. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because you're sick. I still expect you to duel with all your strength unless you want something to happen to Dragon over there."

Junior gritted his teeth. Yui held on to his arm to stop him from doing something stupid, or maybe as a sign of reassurance. But Yami didn't focus on that long, he instead concentrated on Seto's words. The lack of tone behind his threat…

Seto hadn't brought up anything relating to Junior before this point in the duel. Yami guessed that Seto only made that threat to reinvigorate the pharaoh, not out of any real intention of acting on his part. When the pharaoh realized that, he let a small smile slide. Yami had purposefully added Junior's safety to the duel's stipulation to see how Seto would react. With Seto only bringing up outing Junior to the public to try and silence Yui, his non-reaction to the duel stipulation (Seto probably would have taken any requirement to duel with Yami), plus this empty threat made one thing clear to the Pharoah. Seto had not come here planning to cut Junior off as a loose end. It must have been a secondary mission to whatever Seto's real purpose was.

Yami shook his head. Now the question was, what was that mission? It must have been vital for Kaiba to come now, and it still somehow involved Junior since Seto wanted to speak with him personally. Yet, with the whole family here, the CEO hadn't wanted to ask it outright.

Yami then paused. If he had just left Seto alone with Junior, would this all have been figured out? Was this duel unnecessary? Maybe the family had simply jumped to conclusions? Yami looked up from his cards and was about to ask when his sudden rage returned with a vengeance. For a few moments Yami saw nothing but red.

'How dare Kaiba just barge into this house and scare my family like that?! No, the duel was necessary, just to put Kaiba in his place.'

"I use Ancient Rules to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the field," Seto announced. Thanks to this being a more official duel between two champions, the holograms were appropriately sized to the small room they were dueling in. In a white flash, a small Blue-Eyes appeared on the field. Even with its smaller size, it still bent its head as to not graze the ceiling. Both Junior and Yami recognized what that meant. One of the three Blue-Eyes spirits was in the room, one of the males by the looks of him.

The Blue-Eyes looked around the battlefield, then paused when his eyes landed on Yami. Yami prepared for the challenging roar the males usually did when they realized they were fighting the pharaoh. But instead, the dragon floated a few steps back in surprise. His eyes widened. He then turned back to Seto, a questioning look on his face. When Seto didn't acknowledge him, the dragon turned right back around and roared a quick, if bit awkward, challenge.

"Now attack Queen's Knight!" Seto announced.

Yami smiled as he activated his quick-play spell in response. "I activate my spell, Unity!"

This new spell of Yami's allowed Queen's Knight's defense to become equal to the combined defense of all face-up monsters on his side of the field. This made her defense a thousand points higher than Blue-Eyes's attack. The dragon bounced off the knight's shield, the pinging on Seto's duel disk signaled the first real hit of the duel. Yami was ready for Seto's next move when the whole room froze in horror.

Instead of Blue-Eyes merely returning to Seto's side of the field, the dragon was thrown violently back, right into Seto. It was if the large creature had actually collided with Kaiba, throwing them both back into a shelf. The shelf shook with the force as both Seto and his dragon fell to the floor.

"Sir, are you ok!?" Roland asked as everyone but the frozen Yami ran to Kaiba's side. As the duel disk finished pinging away his life points, Seto stumbled back to his feet, standing up through the dragon's hologram. The group gasped when they saw the bleeding cut Seto now had on his cheek.

"Seto-?" Yami began to ask.

"It's nothing! I simply tripped on the mess that is in this living room. Do you always live in this pigsty?" Seto said as he wiped away the small amount of blood.

"Sorry, we were… cleaning." Junior managed to say.

Everyone was silent as the Blue-Eyes got back to his feet and floated to his place on the field, going through the others like the hologram he should have been.

While in official tournament duels, the holograms were made more solid for theatrical effect, they would only ever slightly push the duelist or kick upwind. Even with a spirit inside, they would never cause a cut or more extreme wound. KaibaCorp made sure of that to avoid lawsuits. Yet, despite what Kaiba said, he definitely was pushed backward. And it definitely wasn't a preprogrammed action for a monster to be thrown into their duelist.

Goosebumps spread across Yami's arms, but it wasn't from his inner chill or even the suddenly cold room.

"It's your turn, Muto," Seto said in a stern voice, obviously trying to regain some of his composure. He then angrily waved away the others. Roland remained by his side as the Mutos hesitantly returned to Yami's side of the room.

"R-right." Yami pulled out his next card. It was Dark Magic Curtain. At the cost of half his life points, he could summon his ace monster, Dark Magician. Yami held out a little hope, maybe Dark Magician's spirit would come this time. He needed his card partner.

"I use the spell, Dark Magic Curtain!" Yami announced as he slapped the card into its slot. The holographic field responded by producing a great curtain that fell over the room. With a breeze of cold wind, the curtain fluttered away to reveal Dark Magician. The magician immediately turned to Yami. The two locked eyes and Yami let out a relieved sigh, his beloved spirit was in that hologram. But his smile fell away as Dark Magician's face showed more emotion than he usually did. He seemed truly worried, nearly panicked. Yami was about to ask why when his duel disk began to beep, signaling the loss of half his life points. Red-hot pain ripped through Yami.

It was as if something was sucking away his insides. The cold that saturated his body stubbornly remained, but everything else was in pain. Yami bit his tongue to stop from yelping. He recognized that pain, he knew it all too well. He just hadn't been prepared for it.

"Yami?" Yui's voice broke through Yami's surprise and made him look around the room frantically.

'The cold temperature, the spirits being surprised at being summoned, and the unmistakable pain inflicted for losing life points. This was a shadow game.' Yami couldn't hide his fear as he realized that Seto definitely did not have the power to start this. 'Gods, this is a shadow game!'

The pharaoh had promised, he promised! He promised Yugi that he would never start another shadow game, and yet here he was. He had started this game so quickly, so fluidly, to the point it had been second-nature to him, much like when he was first awoken from the puzzle. That fact scared him more than any pain inflicted by magic.

Kaiba had picked up on Yami's sudden fear, but it was clear he wasn't going to ask what was wrong. Then Yami's heart fell lower in his stomach. Kaiba wouldn't just end a duel, especially with Yami. The pharaoh could just surrender now, but he didn't know what would happen when one of them lost the duel. Would it be bad enough for one of them to lose their soul?

Yami shook his head and ended his turn without doing anything else. No, he decided. Even unconsciously, he wouldn't have set the fail conditions as bad as that.

But then again, maybe it wasn't him in control right now?

…

As Yugi stepped up to the drawbridge of the castle, he couldn't help but stop. It seemed so long ago that he had been levitated into here by a desperate Silent Magician. But the journey wasn't over yet. Yugi took in a deep breath as he caught up with the rest of his monster friends. He couldn't fail them.

Inside the main hall, there were bedrolls and blankets spread everywhere. This castle had been the shelter for refugees during the initial Gandora attacks. It looked like Dark Magician Girl or her servants hadn't gotten around to cleaning them up yet, even with most monsters getting their houses or at least their rebuilt land back in the most recent reset. That hadn't stopped all the dirty looks Gandora gained through the castle.

Gandora kept her head held high, but Yugi could tell she acutely felt the stares thrown her way. Yugi was about to say something to her when a group of smaller monsters suddenly ran past the group to get to Gandora.

"Hey, Gandora! Glad to see yar all good. We got the call from Boss and came over right away." A plushie dog said to Gandora. His words were followed by other loud declarations for Gandora's safety from the other new monsters.

Gandora grew a broad grin as she picked up the workers so she could talk to them face to face. "Madolche Cruffssant! Buten! And everyone else! I'm so glad you are all safe! How are the children?"

While the talkers didn't notice as they continued their conversation, Yugi saw as all the monsters around the castle paused. Their glares at Gandora faltered. They were initially shocked that Gandora picked up the smaller monsters in such a gentle way, and then even more surprised that these monsters even let her touch them.

"Sorry, guys. We can't keep Dark Magician Girl waiting." Silent's words flashed in-between Gandora and the group of builders.

"Right," Gandora said, almost disappointedly. She then bent down so the monsters could hop out of her palms.

"Hey, we'll catch up later. You will be there to help clean up the mess you made of the tree village, right? We'll have a lot of rebuildin' to do." Madolche Cruffssant said with a good-natured wink.

"Of course," Gandora said as she waved them off. As the group walked away, Yugi heard Gandora say under her breath. "I'll try."

Yugi looked once more to the little monsters as they dispersed through the many halls of the castle. One pig-like builder was pulled aside by one of the surprised onlookers from earlier. Yugi couldn't hear what the whispering monster asked, but he could hear the pig's happy reply.

"Oh, sure. You should have seen her catch all of us in one scoop when one of the walkways we were building collapsed. I've never seen such a large monster be _that_ aware of us little guys. It's like once duel spirits get past their first story in height, they suddenly forget we little guys exist. But we never had that problem with her…"

Yugi smiled as the conversation became a distant thing behind them. Maybe part four of plan A wouldn't be that impossible: C_onvince the people that the Gandora can be peaceful, and even helpful._

The real sticker would be with Dark Magician Girl and the Gandora themselves. Yugi could set up the situation for peace, but those two groups would want to honestly have that peace for this to work. And the one they needed to convince first was Dark Magician Girl. Because if she was there reaching out the olive branch, Yugi thought Giga might be more willing to listen to their plan.

The group made it to the large doors leading to Dark Magician Girl's "office." But Yugi knew to call it her office was the wrong description as soon as he stepped inside. It was the throne room, without a throne and the pomp and circumstance that comes with such a seat. It was a large room with enough space for even the biggest monster, yet there was a close feeling about it like this would be a chat with friends over tea instead of an audience with the domain's leader. At the center of this room was a large, glowing globe floating over a circular gold frame. Dark Magician Girl was staring intensely at this globe.

"Ah, Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Did you manage to wrangle Yugi…?" Dark Magician Girl said with her back turned to the entrance. Her eyes widened when she turned to face them and saw the large group that came with Blue-Eyes.

"Oh! You managed to get everyone!" Dark Magician Girl then saw Marshmallon pop their head out of the Kuriboh river. "And made a friend." She said with a smile.

Marshmallon nodded to her and then turned to Yugi, as everyone did. Yugi felt all their eyes on him as he stepped forward. He had to remind himself that this was Dark Magician Girl. She would listen to him, right? Then why was he so nervous?

"Dark Magician Girl, I heard about the Silents' ultimatum." Yugi began.

"Good." Dark Magician Girl cut in as she rested her still bandaged hand on the strange orb. "I was just looking to see where the Gandora were." Her eyes then shifted to the Gandora standing behind Yugi. Yugi's heart sunk when he got the implication.

"You want to lead the Silents to them," Yugi whispered. Gandora let out a growl but checked herself when she saw how ashamed Dark Magician Girl looked.

"I-I don't want to. You know me, Yugi. You know I'd never support… this." She said with a vague gesture to Gandora. "But if we go up against the Silents... They will destroy more of this barely healed land, and then take what they want anyway." She said as she looked to Silent Magician. The mage held a neutral face, but both Yugi and Dark Magician Girl were able to read the broiling sea of emotion she was hiding.

"You know too well the truth behind their promise of destruction. I helped raise them, and you were them, Silent Magician. They're too far gone."

"I don't believe that." Silent Magician wrote. "I will always believe that all Silents want, and will be the true protectors they were made to be, at least eventually. But you are right. As of now, they will do what they think is right to regain their honor. That, at the moment, is getting these dragons for the army that hired them. But if we give them a different option, I believe they'll back off."

"How?" Dark Magician Girl asked as she turned back to Yugi.

"The Silents are mercenaries. They have no real attachment to getting the Gandora other than they were hired too. If we as a domain agree to keep and protect the Gandora, I think we can change their minds or at least dissuade the Silents."

Dark Magician Girl had to hold back a slight chuckle. "Protect the Gandora, as a domain? Yugi, I know you forgive easily but… Some monsters won't." Gandora looked away as Dark Magician Girl continued speaking, seeming to wilt at her words. "The Gandora have destroyed so much and have hurt my people greatly. I have to listen to the voices of my people. This land is for weaker monsters and those that want a break from fighting. The Gandora have broken that rule."

"They don't understand better!" Gandora suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone but Yugi. "Most of them haven't known a world outside of being forced to be living bombs. But if they know they are in a safe place where being the strongest physically isn't required-"

"Gandora." Dark Magician Girl said with a shake of the head. "These are not just a bunch of hatchlings or mind-controlled monsters. They are all thinking, morally reasoning adults. You are a perfect example of that. They knew that their rampages were hurtful, yet they still did them."

"I know, and I can't stand how malicious they've sometimes been. Trust me, I've been the victim of such treatment just as much as the monsters of this land. But that's all the Gandora expect in return! We've lived in a world of nothing but kill or be killed. See things from our eyes! Imagine finally finding a way out of that horrible situation, losing many loved ones along the way…" Gandora's voice cracked as her fists tightened. She looked at Yugi. He hoped he was able to give her some comfort with an encouraging smile. It seemed to do the trick as she continued in a more smooth voice. "Then you and your entourage come and attack us before we've said two words."

Yugi and the others turned to each other in surprise, they hadn't heard that part of the story before. Even Blue-Eyes lost a bit of her regality as she looked to Dark Magician Girl for a response. In turn, the domain leader's face darkened, but she didn't object to Gandora's claim. Yugi then remembered something Gandora said upon their first real talk together, under that glowing white tree.

"Just ask the 'great' leader Dark Magician Girl. She was the first to attack and, in turn, feel Giga's wrath." Gandora had said back then.

When Yugi turned to Dark Magician Girl with wide, worried eyes, she crossed her arms. "I've never attacked first. It would go against everything this domain stands for." She murmured

"To a bunch of war-raised Gandora, it sure seemed like it! We all had just come through the domain's barrier when the lockdown took away the portal we used to get in. Once we realized the portal had disappeared behind us, of course we were scared. We didn't know that the Knight's had been banished instead of simply leaving the portal unguarded. Then you and your guards came up to us yelling how we were 'breaking the barrier,' and 'strong monsters didn't belong here!'"

"Then Giga and the others started roaring back. Telling me how they would destroy what they wished and that we had no say!" Dark Magician Girl snapped back. She then felt her injured side. "And he attacked before I got another word out!"

"They were terrified! We all knew you to be one of the Nameless Pharaoh's partners. Making you seem like one of the strongest monsters around! All that heartache to get into the domain, and it seemed like I had just landed them in another death trap!" Gandora roared.

Everyone became tense as the two argued, ready for things to fall apart. But it was Gandora that was the first to back down. She looked down at her gripped claws, flexing them open and closed. Then she once again looked to Yugi. He kept his steady gaze, knowing she needed to be the one to say whatever she was about to voice. For both her sake and Dark Magician Girl's.

"Then again… I don't know what happened after that point. That was when I had flown back to the wishing well to make my next wish… Seeming like I was abandoning my archetype again." Gandora then bowed her head. "No… I should be apologizing for them. I don't know what they did to you, and I have no right to get angry over you protecting your domain from seeming invaders."

Gandora then bent down to kneel to Dark Magician Girl. "Please, at least give them the chance to prove they want what this domain stands for. I know they really do want peace; they just don't know how to treat it once they do get it."

The room became silent. Everyone then turned their gazes to Dark Magician Girl. The domain leader seemed dumbstruck as she looked at the monster many times her size bowing to her. With a sigh, she readjusted her hat and floated to stand in front of Gandora.

"Please stand." Dark Magician Girl said in a quiet voice. Gandora immediately stood, once again towering over the group. Yugi knew the size difference must have become more apparent to Dark Magician Girl as she stared up at one of the biggest Gandora. "I didn't know about the lockdown at the time and thought you guys had somehow sneaked past the Knights. I... I can see where a misunderstanding would arise."

Dark Magician Girl tightened her grip on her scepter. "I thank you for apologizing, that must have taken a lot of humility from such an innately proud race. You are very different from the rest of your archetype... I don't know if I can trust the other Gandora to share the same feelings as you though."

"If I could, Gandora." Silent stepped forward as she briefly touched Gandora's knee. Gandora nodded to her and stepped back so the mage would have the stage.

"I understand where the Gandora are coming from." Silent wrote. This got Dark Magician Girl's undivided attention. "I know what it feels like to suddenly be the big fish in the pond. It is such an addicting feeling to finally be the one in power, I'm sure even more to ex-slaves." She then looked to Gandora. "While their actions are still their own, I- no, we truly think there can be peace. Please! Give them a chance! The chance you gave me after my many crimes as a corrupt Silent guardian."

Dark Magician Girl found no words as she looked over the determined Silent Magician. The domain leader's hand fell over her chest as she looked over the strange group in front of her. The respected Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the Nameless Pharaoh's partner, the famed Marshmallon, the now respected Silent Magician, a single female Gandora, shunned by her own kind, and a small hoard of Kuriboh. All willing to fight for dragons that didn't even ask for their help.

"You once told me Gandora, that your archetype never shows weakness. Don't they see help from others as weakness? Do you really think we can convince them?"

Gandora shrunk back a little. "Yes, they see a great many things as weakness. That fighting spirit was something the warrior army implanted in us to combat that ingrained promise we had to our first human partner. And while I doubt we can change _that_ in only a day. I do know we can convince them that fighting the Silents won't end well. They'll work with us to avoid them and… I think they'll be quick learners when they realize that this can be their home."

Dark Magician Girl then turned to Yugi. She seemed exhausted. Yugi knew weeks of juggling a lockdown, Gandora, and Silents would do that. "Yugi, while I would love to accept them with open arms, I really would... I don't know if the others in this domain will accept them. It's my job as their domain leader to act on their wishes. Most still remember the many invaders that attacked before Silent Magician stepped up to be this domain's protector. Then to have these dragons come and decimate the land, even if we can reset it back. It's a hard pill to swallow."

"I have a plan for that." Yugi smiled.

Dark Magician Girl seemed momentarily surprised but immediately bounced back. She floated to her feet with such excitement that Yugi knew that this was the last problem stopping her from trusting them.

"Really? What?"

Yugi then led her gaze to Marshmallon. "The monster here actually gave me the idea. This will be a domain-wide project, but if you and I back it, I think we can change the people's hearts." Yugi then added under his breath. "And if the Gandora actually want to cooperate with us."

Yugi then said out loud. "Gandora are quite destructive, to the point they can peel away the land's perfection so unnerving to many monsters, even after a full land reset."

Dark Magician Girl lit up as Yugi said that. "Really? If that's true, that'd be amazing! I get complaints about that near-daily."

Yugi continued, "If we work together to systematically and safely destroy and reset the domain, everyone can be happy. It'd be a long project so the Gandora would have time to learn how to live outside of war and help them make up for their past troubles. At the same time this would let the people get used to them in return."

They would talk much longer with Dark Magician Girl to clear up details. But Yugi could tell by her face that she was with them, as she had always been with him in past duels.

_Step one of Plan A: check_

Step two and three now must happen at the same time, meaning the group had to split up_._

"You feel ready to face your archetype, partner?" Yugi asked as the group began their preparations to split.

Gandora gave a toothy smile as she smashed her fist into her palm. "Absolutely! I've needed to have a real conversation with my ex-mate for a while."

**A/N: A few quick points. Yes, Yami did use a card that technically has his friends' faces on it. We can just pretend it has a different design in-universe, for my sake. I couldn't find another card that had the effect I wanted that was also plausible for Yami to have in his deck. Point number two, when Hakairyuu says all Gandora are all descendants of Gandora-X, it's like saying a person is a decedent of Attila the Hun. The remaining Gandora aren't closely related to each other, yet. I just realized the next generation might have a problem since they are all Hakairyuu's hatchlings. It's a good thing they are fighting for their freedom now huh? With freedom comes a much bigger dating pool.**


	32. Frightful Presence

The Muto's living room was silent. Yami had just ended his turn by summoning a monster in attack position with a lower ATK than Blue-Eyes, all without setting any cards.

"Just what are you planning, Muto?" Kaiba murmured as he drew his card. His eyes darted about as he tried to figure out Yami's strategy.

Yami didn't acknowledge Seto, or seemingly anyone anymore. He simply stared at his duel disk as he held his staunch posture, all to hide just how brittle he was at that moment.

Yami didn't dare look up. He wasn't going to let this… this _thing _control him. Though as Yami looked into his own heart, he knew "controlling him" was the wrong wording. It was still very much Yami in control, just a very warped version of him. It felt like someone had used polymerization on his very soul, combining it with a seemingly endless, terrifying abyss.

The ice flowing through Yami's veins seemed to twist and grow at his thoughts and realizations. Every few seconds, this chill would pulse, like a frozen heartbeat within him. It seemed to combine with the Pharaoh's already set ideals, like his need to win in duels or his desire to punish those that wronged him, and spiral them towards their extremes. Here it was starting a shadow game because Seto annoyed him. Yami truly feared what he would do if he was out in public or dealing with worse villains. Because along with his restraints being broken, Yami found himself absolutely enraged.

It was a seeping, broiling acid that seemed to burn Yami's insides whenever he looked at anyone, not just Kaiba. It was becoming more intense the longer the chill settled in Yami's soul. It seemed to crush his chest at even the thought of another person looking at him. He wanted them all dead. No worse than dead, he wanted them gone! No mortal had the right to be in his presence. And while this sudden hate made Yami fear for his friends and family, his most pure, distilled fury, was kept for himself. Yami suddenly hated his very cells for daring to keep him alive. It was an ingrained and bottomless **loathing **for the Pharaoh's very existence.

Seto then said something. Yami thought he might have just been taunted, but Kaiba's words were nothing more than buzzing in the Pharaoh's ears. He couldn't focus, he _wouldn't_ focus. Not with where his thoughts and actions might take him. Yami wanted to punish everyone in the room, to make them suffer, including himself. He didn't think it was possible for any human to hate this much. So he remained still, refusing to move.

He would not play these games, so he was ready to lose.

…

"I hope you are right in bringing me along, Yugi. I might only provoke them." Dark Magician Girl said as the group of Yugi, Gandora, and herself made their way to the ravine the Gandora were hiding out in. Silent Magician, Marshmallon, Blue-Eyes, and Kuriboh remained behind to tell the domain inhabitants of the Gandora plan and warn Yugi if the Silents got impatient.

"They hate me too. But we both need to be there." Gandora explained as the three came upon the red and orange sedimentary rocks that led to the ravine separating this domain from the portal to the next realm. "You're this domain's leader. Even if they don't like you, you have the authority they will respect."

The three had decided to not fly straight into the Gandora encampment as to not scare them. So Dark Magician Girl and Gandora found themselves awkwardly helping each other down into the depths of the deep canyon, each taking turns carrying Yugi as they descended to the river bed below. Yugi hated being dead weight like this, but he couldn't do much about it. His headache had returned, bringing along severe fatigue.

Yugi had thought he was better after his nap earlier. His headache had almost entirely disappeared, and he could walk freely once again without getting winded. He hoped that it meant that the Millennium Puzzle's shattering had halted somehow. But it was only temporary relief. Yugi had pushed himself too hard setting up his traps and spells. While he was strategizing with the group in the castle, he had nearly fainted from merely standing.

Yugi knew now that he had to save his strength to stand proudly in front of the Gandora. He didn't think the dragons would take him seriously if he collapsed in the middle of his upcoming friendship speech. So Yugi relied on his monster friends to carry him and help him ignore the growing pain in his head. Yugi really needed help in that department since the pain seemed to slowly inch down his neck, gradually becoming more than just a headache.

Both Gandora and Dark Magician Girl kept giving Yugi worried glances as they either levitated or held him. Yugi, in turn, kept up his determined smile. He hadn't told Gandora that this fatigue was a sign of his body falling apart. In fact, he hadn't told anyone that didn't already know. Only Dark Magician Girl and Blue-Eyes knew, and Yugi wanted to keep it that way. He had explained away his fainting as an ordinary human disease. While the others might not have wholly believed him, they had new jobs they had to focus on and chose to trust him.

To help block out his growing pain, Yugi looked around at the canyon's scenery. He immediately noticed once they got into Gandora territory. While Yugi no longer being unnerved by their surroundings was a great indicator, there was something else that got Yugi's attention. There weren't trees in this part of the domain, so what the Gandora destroyed were rocks and streambeds. Yugi had expected to see total destruction like in the earlier forest. And while he wouldn't call this place in pristine condition, it wasn't decimated.

The Gandora seemed to almost systematically destroy. They turned riverbeds into tumbling waterfalls and brought great rock pillars to the ground only to arrange them into new, more fascinating shapes. What Yugi found the most interesting was what the dragons did to the high rock walls surrounding them. The Gandora seemed to have purposefully destroyed different levels of the stone, causing different layers of rock to protrude. This was done in both abstract and rigid patterns. Some shapes being things Yugi only thought skilled tools could carve.

"Is… is that Gandora art?" Yugi had to ask. Gandora was holding Yugi at the time and looked to where he pointed.

"It's been a long time since I've seen something like this," Gandora said as she almost reverently touched the rock wall. "This has to be Havoc's work. Even as a little hatchling, he was always interested in using his powers to shape the world around him." She then looked at the miles-long wall with its many other designs. "Though he wouldn't have been able to do all this on his own. Others must have been brave enough to join him." Gandora shook her head as she chuckled. "Even when they're supposed to be hiding, they take time to do this. No wonder the entire domain knew where they were"

"It is… beautiful." Dark Magician Girl commented. She had been trying to find a subject she could connect with Gandora on during the entire trip. Something to break the tension between the two after their fight in the castle. While she had failed so far, Yugi was glad she was still trying. "It takes a lot of precision to get those right angles. Do others of your kind enjoy making this… art?"

Gandora turned away from the wall and continued on their journey. As they headed towards the center of the ravine, Gandora spoke. "Precision is something we Gandora pride ourselves on. It may look like we destroy indiscriminately, but most times, we strive for control. Anything less is seen as a weakness or the work of hatchlings." She then smiled at Yugi. "We can get very picky about our need to destroy. I heard in the past, we used to have yearly contests where Gandora would come from all over to see who could explode the straightest shapes."

"Maybe after all this is done, you can set up another contest like that. I would happily judge such an event." Yugi laughed. He couldn't help but imagine a scene of these terrifying dragons arguing with protractors and rulers in hand about what was considered an isosceles triangle.

"After all this is done…" Gandora trailed off as she looked ahead. The words sounding almost like a plea.

Crumbling from a higher ledge immediately got the three to look up, each ready for an ambush. Above, the group saw the stumbling shadow of a Gandora attempting to be sneaky. Being a massive dragon that naturally didn't have the best balance made this Gandora just about as stealthy as the Kuriboh horde.

"Pieire? It that you up there? It's Hakairyuu. We-" Before Hakairyuu could finish her sentence, Pieire roared at the group before quickly flying away. They watched as the border spy ran towards the center of the ravine.

"That's a friendly welcome." Dark Magician Girl sighed.

"At least now they know we aren't trying to sneak up on them. Maybe if we get to the Gandora camp, they'll be more willing to talk?" Yugi suggested. The girls could only shrug and continued on towards the distant Gandora voices.

The Gandora camp had once been a tall plateau in the center of the gorge. The stone structure had since been leveled by the dragons. Now, they were hiding in a large open area with tall stone walls being the only thing to hint at a structure once being there. The only way in other than flying was an archway blown out from the side. In front of this archway were two Gandora talking frantically with the little spy from earlier.

Yugi looked to the two monsters beside him, and they each nodded to each other. Hakairyuu then put Yugi down. For a few seconds, Yugi stood straight and firm, only for his strength to give out. His pain flared as he fell backward. Thankfully, Dark Magician Girl was there to catch him. Yugi quickly thanked her and found his feet again. He ignored his friends' ever-growing worry and strode to the archway.

"I should go first. You two remain behind me, just in case." Hakairyuu quickly said. Yugi and Dark Magician Girl silently followed her command, and let the giant dragon's size hide them from view.

The two guard Gandora immediately recognized Hakairyuu as she approached. They both roared a challenge at her. Hakairyuu didn't flinch, and neither did Yugi or Dark Magician Girl.

"Stay back, or we will attack!" One of the dragons bellowed.

"We have to talk to Giga! It's about the safety of all of us!" Gandora thundered back. The three Gandora by the entrance only came up to about Hakairyuu's shoulders. Yugi thought it was her size alone that stopped them from acting on their threat. Pieire ran into the camp as the two guards stayed steadfastly in place, even as Hakairyuu towered over them. Then they saw Yugi and Dark Magician Girl behind her legs.

"You've betrayed us once again!" One of them roared as the two started backing away.

"The only thing that has betrayed you is your stubbornness and fighting spirit!" Gandora answered, loud enough to echo around the dry landscape.

"We aren't here to hurt you. We are here to offer an olive branch." Dark Magician Girl added as she peaked around Hakairyuu's legs.

Yugi then added. "We don't want the Silents to take you."

The two Gandora looked to each other with complete shock, their wings flitting in disbelief. Then they burst out laughing.

"Olive Branch?! We knew all the monsters here were weak! It was only a matter of time before they surrendered to us." They kept laughing even as Hakairyuu crossed her arms and glared down at them.

"They are not surrendering. As Yugi said, they wish to help us. To finally free us!" Hakairyuu said.

"We are free!" The guard challenged.

"No, you're not… We're not. You call hiding out in a canyon until the Silents come to collect us free?" Hakairyuu said. The two snapped at her, and it seemed like they were about to get over their fear of Hakairyuu's height when everyone stopped.

A deep, bone-chilling, yet familiar growl rang out from inside the camp. Hakairyuu reacted faster than anyone else, her wings immediately drooped, and her arms fell to her side. Yugi noticed her fearful reaction and rested a hand on her knee. She let the tip of her claw briefly touch his hand, and then straightened up.

"That means Giga's going to let you in." One of the guards explained with a sneer.

"You've really fallen far Hakairyuu if you think you'll ever be accepted here again. He's probably going to blast you three as soon as you are in his line-of-sight." The other one said as the two stepped aside to let them in.

The three looked hesitantly at each other. Dark Magician Girl swallowed hard, and Hakairyuu's tail flicked worriedly behind her. It was Yugi taking in a deep breath and stepping forward that led them into the heart of Gandora territory.

Inside the walls seemed at first, to be a wasteland of rubble and ash. Yet, when Yugi looked closer, he noticed an organization to the wreckage. The Gandora had piled the leftover rocks to build dens. They had also exploded and blocked the nearby river so that some of the water diverted through their camp, ending in multiple self-made pools.

Yugi could only see about twenty or so Gandora in the area. Each immediately turned to Hakairyuu, almost always ignoring Yugi and Dark Magician Girl at first. Some immediately snarled at Hakairyuu, some looked briefly excited before the roars of their kin made them wilt, some simply shook their heads in pity. But all let it be known the group was not welcome.

Yugi was surprised that no dragon came up to directly challenge them. The Gandora kept their distance as the three walked to the largest structure they could see. Near the biggest pool of water stood what remained of the plateau's core, a large clump of clear crystal. The crystal cluster was nearly the size of a building. And using this crystal as a makeshift throne, lazily flicking his tail, was Giga.

"And so, the cowards return." Giga rumbled as he got to his feet.

…

The Mutos had also noticed Yami's sudden stiffness and weird behavior. They all knew something was not right. Yui and Grandpa looked to each other for any idea of what to do. They felt so helpless, and they knew this kind of uselessness all too well. Years of trying to figure out what to do about Yugi, before they knew about the Pharaoh, taught them this feeling well. They came to the same conclusion as they were forced to many times before, they could only watch and wait. Junior, on the other hand, was able to turn to Dark Magician.

The mage kept glancing back to Yami while still trying to remain in the Dark Magician hologram's preprogrammed position. But when Yami started to slightly shiver, the spirit gave up on any pretenses and ran to his partner's side. He attempted to touch Yami's shoulder, but the hologram phased through him. Yami once again didn't react. He wouldn't let himself come to hate Dark Magician too.

"I'll start my turn by activating Tyrant Wing!" Seto said as he attached the trap card to his Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Hearing this immediately made Dark Magician straighten up. He looked frantically around the room until he landed on Junior, and their eyes locked. While everyone else looked at Seto, Dark Magician led Junior's gaze to the area behind the group

"The wall? You want something from the wall?" Junior asked in a low voice as to not attract attention from the others. He was still not comfortable with communicating with things he had spent his whole life convincing himself weren't real.

Dark Magician shook his head and desperately pointed to that area again. Junior looked closer at the space behind them, not seeing anything that the spirit wanted. He could tell the spirit was anxious, so he named the only other thing in that empty part of the room.

"My shadow?" Junior asked. Dark Magician nodded his head, then pointed at a pile of board games stacked near the junk box. Junior could only shake his head. "What are you trying to say-?"

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack Dark Magician," Seto commanded. Yami still did not react, and Dark Magician grew more agitated. Junior grimaced as he tried to reason what the spirit wanted from him. But before Dark Magician could communicate more, his hologram was pulled back onto the battlefield by the game, dragging his soul with it. KaibaCorp's systems were making sure the Dark Magician hologram was in place for Blue-Eyes's attack.

"Shadow and a pile of games? Shadow…" Junior thought back to the last time he had heard about shadows. The car ride where Yami explained the mechanics of his shadow magic jumped to mind. Or, more specifically, how that magic had been used to hurt others. "Shadow Game!"

The dragon's rumble as he shot off his attack wasn't the thing to get Yami's attention. It wasn't even the flash of light that turned from white to red as Blue-Eyes's attack ripped into Dark Magician and kept flying towards Yami. It was the blur of Junior as he pushed Yami aside, and the sickening crack that brought the Pharoah violently back to reality.

Blue-Eyes's attack hit Junior square in his chest and threw him into the back wall. The crash was enough to stop Yami's inner turmoil as Junior slid limply to the ground. For a few moments, Yami could only hear the pounding in his head. He stared as the smoke cleared, and Junior did not get up. As usual, the shadow attack didn't leave any real physical wounds. But Yami still feared the worse. For those not used to shadow games, the injuries they received were often more significant. Even though Seto had taken more game damage earlier, Junior's body would be in no way prepared for what just hit him.

"Dad!" Yami yelled as he ignored his duel disk's pinging and ran to Junior's side. Again, Junior didn't react, didn't even move as Yami shook him. Yami grit his teeth as the acid within him bubbled up the memories of Joey falling in his shadow game with Yami Marik, or Yugi collapsing in front of him during Pegasus's game. The turbulent ice seemed to combine and grow with the seething acid Yami had been trying to hold back. Yami began trembling from head to foot, in complete and utter rage.

The sound of the last of his damage beeping away on his life point counter made Yami grip his hands into tight fists. He turned away and faced Kaiba, fully intending to end this game. He let not just the ice, but the acid consume him. He would not play these games anymore, so he was ready to crush Kaiba!

Then Yami was yanked back by a firm hand.

"Don't you dare!" The duel disk was jerked off Yami's arm. This pulled Yami off balance and made him fall back into a sitting position. In utter shock, the Pharaoh watched as the duel disk's central computer was crushed in Junior's hand, seemingly by accident as the father angrily pulled the device away from Yami.

What got Yami's attention next was Junior's eyes. They had always been a shade of red, but at this moment, they seemed almost to glow a deep scarlet. There was now an aura about Junior that paralyzed Yami and stopped his building rage in its tracks. The Pharaoh was staring into the eyes of a fierce dragon. Then, quicker than even a blink of an eye, that power was gone. Junior began to cough as he slumped forward. He was back to being just a man.

By this point, Yui and Grandpa were able to catch Junior before he hit the floor. The broken duel disk laid forgotten at their feet.

"Solomon? Solomon!" Yui begged as she held Junior up. At first, Junior could only groan, then he seemed to wake up enough to speak.

"SON OF A-!" Junior then began to string a true tapestry of profanity as he clutched his chest, half of the chosen words being in other languages. He aimed his tirade at no one in particular, it was merely his way of dealing with his pain, and he wasn't stopping anytime soon. He kept going even as Grandpa tried to reason with him, and as Yui ran for a first-aid kit.

His family soon became background droning as Yami turned back to Seto. While Seto hadn't lost his cocky stance, his smirk was gone. He hadn't done anything else since his attack, seemingly taken aback by what happened to Junior. Yami wasn't sure why though. Seto hadn't even flinched during Battle City, where he saw much worse damage done because of a duel. Yet here, he seemed bothered by his attack. Yami wondered if this was a side effect of the personal growth Seto had gone under during the whole Orichalcos fiasco, or something else? Either way, Yami knew he had to seize on that uncertainty now before Seto collected himself, or Yami did something he would regret. Because while Junior had surprised Yami and snapped him out of his warpath, the Pharaoh felt something much worse boiling within him, ready for the next outrage.

While the duel couldn't officially continue thanks to Yami's duel disk being forcefully deactivated. That didn't mean the shadow game was over. The KaibaCorp holograms might have been disabled, but the two still had their duel monsters on the field, each made real by shadow magic. This game would only end if one of them lost, or they both agreed to quit.

…

Once again, Yugi was reminded of how big Giga was. While Hakairyuu had towered over the other Gandora, Giga shadowed her. His body was covered in deep scars and burns. Each wound seemed to grow deeper when the light from Giga's many orbs glowed. For being a zero ATK monster, he had all the aura of being over one million. Yugi's words died in his throat as those red eyes drilled into him.

"You had your chance, Pharaoh, and you failed. You've already proven you are not Gandora strong. So we have no need to talk to you." Giga growled. Then he turned to Dark Magician Girl. "And I thought I made it clear to you that if I ever saw you again, I would even out your other side."

Dark Magician gripped her still bandaged half, a grimace making its way to her face. Seeing this made Giga smirk.

Hakairyuu then stepped up to Giga and began. "Giga, we have come with an idea. A way for all Gandora to finally live in peace-"

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't blow you two to the stars." Giga cut off Hakairyuu and walked past her. He never once glanced at her. This made Hakairyuu pause, her mouth hanging open. She then growled and ran to be in front of him again.

"We are trying to save you! If you listen to Yugi and Dark Magician Girl, then maybe, just maybe, we can stay in this land. Please, Giga! I know you don't trust me anymore, but you have to listen to us." Hakairyuu said.

Giga was silent a few moments, then he crossed his arms and looked back to Yugi. "Get control of your beast. Her incessant buzzing is tiring." Hakairyuu froze as Giga still did not meet her eyes. "Who is she anyway? She's clearly not a Gandora."

"Hey! Don't talk like that about the dragon who is the whole reason your sorry tails are even here!" Dark Magician Girl shot back. Hakairyuu was surprised at Dark Magician Girl's sudden defense of her, but Yugi wasn't. He knew Dark Magician Girl too well. She was never one to stand insults, and Giga's seemed to cut Hakairyuu deep.

"Why have you even kept her around? She's far too useless for even a weak heart like yours, Pharaoh." Giga said in a matter-of-fact voice. He then stepped forward and shoved Hakairyuu aside with his shoulder.

Yugi saw the amount of hurt in Hakairyuu's eyes. He didn't know if it was because he was a spirit partner to her, or he was very empathetic at that moment, but to Yugi, her pain became nearly a physical ache. He immediately stepped up to the towering male dragon, all his earlier fear flying away.

"She is an amazing dragon, and I can't understand how you refuse to see that! Even now she is trying to save you from yourselves-!" Yugi began.

"Save us from who?" Giga once again cut in as he glared at Dark Magician Girl. "Are you here to declare war?"

"Of course not." Dark Magician Girl said. "The Silents! They are coming to capture all the Gandora and return you to the Crags. Isn't this why you are hiding out at the edge of the domain?" Dark Magician Girl asked.

The three realized they may have taken it a step too far as Giga took another threatening step towards them as he roared. "Gandora hide from no one!" The Gandora around echoed this thunder.

"Right, right." Yugi quickly back-tracked, realizing this would get them nowhere. Dark Magician Girl too, took a deep breath and backed off a few steps.

Giga rose to his full height as he glared down at the two, once again completely ignoring Hakairyuu. This time Hakairyuu stayed back. She watched her friends from the side, but her gaze was more focused on the gathering of Gandora. Yugi gulped as he felt the ever-closing circle of dragons surround them. He didn't like this but knew if he was going to get everyone out alive, then they needed to talk this out.

"Great Giga, I know you're not hiding, but I also know you don't want a fight with the Silents. You all must be tired from your race to get into this domain. Fighting a full archetype of trained monsters is not something you wish, right?" Yugi looked around at the Gandora.

It was clear the Gandora were trying to remain confident looking, but Yugi could see the worry in their eyes. Then Yugi returned to Giga. While the giant dragon was showing complete confidence, Yugi noticed some chinks in his facade. The flicking of his tail, his tightly held crossed arms, it showed that he knew the threat the Silents poised towards his archetype.

"What are you getting at, Pharaoh?" Giga reluctantly growled.

Yugi sighed, finally some progress. "We three came together to figure out a way for you all to remain here and protect you from the- and dissuade the Silents from coming after you. But to do that, you have to work with the domain and its inhabitants…"

Yugi and Dark Magician Girl then continued to explain the idea. When they brought up not destroying the domain freely anymore, and instead, working with the people here to remove the perfection, they thought the Gandora would argue. To their surprise, the dragons remained quiet and kept listening. Giga even nodded in understanding at some points, especially when it came to their power to permanently destroy perfection. Most of the Gandora got excited when they heard this land would help set them up with shelter and food in return for their work. For a while, Yugi and Dark Magician Girl became just as excited as the dragons around them. Maybe the Gandora were more agreeable then they expected? But that slight hope between the two ended abruptly when they brought up the fact the Gandora would have to work under Dark Magician Girl during this project.

"You just want to enslave us again!" Giga roared as he reared back defensively, the other Gandora following suit. Dark Magician Girl raised her staff and seemed ready to defend Yugi when Hakairyuu's voice broke through the mass.

"No! This isn't like what we've lived through. Honestly, it's nothing like anything we've done. I've worked with the monster here personally. Building and creating, it's amazing. Especially when working with others. I want you guys to be able to experience creating at least once. And even if you don't like it, it's not permanent. We just have to make it up to the monsters of this land for all the damage we've done." Hakairyuu explained.

"We aren't like you!" A female Gandora from the crowd shot back. "Why do we even want to 'make it up' to these weaker monsters?"

Hakairyuu sighed deeply. She then turned to face the speaker. The shorter dragon seemed momentary worried but stood her ground, flashing her orbs briefly in threat.

Hakairyuu spoke. "What are our rules when another Gandora has offended or hurt you?" No dragon spoke. "Someone, speak up! Since I am no longer a Gandora, I might not remember our personal laws correctly." Hakairyuu said as she shot a quick glare at Giga.

After a few more moments of muteness, a male Gandora spoke up. "If the offense is proven either with evidence or by winning a duel between the two, the offending party must make it right with the other Gandora."

"Yes, and that is something we must do now," Hakairyuu said. The other Gandora began to argue with her, but she cut them off with a quick snarl. "Call our initial destruction what you will. Explain it away with whatever excuse you have. It does not take away that we have hurt innocents and… We have become no better than the warrior army we ran away from."

This got a significant reaction from the horde, enough that once again, Yugi and Dark Magician Girl were ready to shield themselves. But somehow, Hakairyuu's voice continued to rise above the din.

"We hurt and took without reason! We didn't even prove our strength. We simply proved we were unrestrained monsters! Monsters that an archetype like the Silents have every right to return to the Crags! But we know what we are! We are a proud archetype. We are more than living bombs, and we have to prove that to this land, to ourselves even!"

Hakairyuu continued to explain her personal experiences regarding the domain. She spoke of her fear of the Silents and loneliness. Then she told of the joy she felt thanks to the kindness the monsters (and one human) of this land gave to her. This brought a hush over the dragons. At first, they seemed determined to argue her points. But slowly, they listened. She continued speaking on things that only the other Gandora seemed able to resonate with. Personal experiences that Yugi and Dark Magician Girl could not understand the importance of, but the other Gandora seemed to. Hakairyuu spoke bravely and steadfastly, never flinching from the crueler things the Gandora had done while letting them know there was an opportunity to fix this. They just had to take it.

Yugi couldn't help but look to Hakairyuu with pride. The dragon who at first, had troubles putting her pride aside to simply ask him for help now was helping her own archetype to throw aside their pride for peace.

"…I know we are scared, and I hate how we have become unable to even admit our fear thanks to our fighting spirit. We Gandora are strong. Strong enough to fight this damaging fire within us, and become new dragons. This is our chance! With this destructive power only we possess, we can move on from the war and the way things have been-"

"QUIET!" Giga roared, and for the first time that day, he faced Hakairyuu. "You're speaking of useless dreams! You always have! You're going to do nothing but lead us to our demise!"

The many Gandora that had come closer to Hakairyuu were now slowly backing away.

Hakairyuu turned defiantly to Giga. "What? Isn't this what you wanted? What we wanted when we escaped the warrior army? To live in peace?"

"This isn't peace you speak of! It sounds like we have to throw away everything that makes us Gandora! With you leading, we will be nothing more than that Domain leader's lap puppies!"

Yugi was about to speak up to defend his plan when Dark Magician Girl held him back. Yugi looked to her questioningly.

"This isn't about your plan Yugi, or at least not specifically." Dark Magician Girl said.

"Then what is it about?" Yugi asked as he turned back to the standoff.

Dark Magician Girl's gaze darkened. "I've been watching him closely this whole time. He doesn't see you or me as a real enemy. In fact, I think he agrees with us. I believe all his rage is connected to her-" Before she could continue, Giga cut her off with another roar.

"You're not a Gandora, you're not even a dragon!" Giga thundered at Hakairyuu.

Hakairyuu didn't back down. "Giga…"

"You can't call me that! You lost the right to call me that name the moment you left us for dead at the border. When you left me at the border!" The pained edge that lined that last sentence surprised even the Gandora around. Giga quickly re-corrected when he realized he'd let his voice crack. He flared out his wings and let his orbs flash with a deep crimson light. "You fully buried that right when you brought these two to us. You think we are all weak like you, but we are far from being anything like that! We are Gandora!" Giga snarled.

Hakairyuu paused. Yugi feared she would be upset by his words again. But instead, she copied Giga's posture as she too flared out her wings and stretched her claws.

"I am not weak!" Hakairyuu roared, making Yugi smile. The thing he had been trying to tell her this whole adventure, yelled loud and clear for everyone to hear.

Hakairyuu continued. "I am a Gandora, same as you! If you can't see that or refuse to acknowledge there are other forms of strength, then you no longer have our archetype's best interest in mind!"

This made Giga's eyes widen before they narrowed to slits. "Think about your next words carefully, worm! I've spent my entire life fighting and surviving while you remained behind to raise hatchlings."

Hakairyuu closed her eyes and released a curl of white smoke from her nostrils. "Giga, I challenge you to a duel. Winner leads the Gandora."

Gasps passed around the horde like a bad cough. Dark Magician Girl even seemed like she wanted to jump in and stop Hakairyuu, but they all remained deathly still. Yugi felt his eyes widen, his heart sinking. He knew Hakairyuu to be strong, but he often found experience won out more in a duel. And by the sounds of it, Giga had much, _much_ more experience.

Giga let out a hollow and half-mad laugh, making worried looks come to even his fellow Gandoras' faces. "Fine by me! I've been too soft on you. It's time I show you what a Gandora really is!"

…

"-Himmeldonnerwetter! Shadow magic, BURNS!" That was about the time Junior slowed down enough in his pained rantings to get to his feet.

"Whoa there, sailor. Are you really ok to stand?" Grandpa asked.

"Yeah, yeah. This isn't anything worse than I've had before. I was just not ready for the... non-physical aspects of it." Junior gasped. Yui had grabbed the family first-aid kit by this point and was nearly glued to her husband's side. She was currently trying to find some sort of wound to disinfect. The way she went about treating him, like it was second nature to her, made Yami think that at one time she had to do this very often for Junior.

"Are you ok, Pharaoh?" Grandpa's voice made Yami jump. He looked up to see his grandfather reaching out to help Yami to his feet. Yami was about to take his hand when he started to feel another building wave of rage about to drown him. He couldn't do this anymore; being able to move absolutely wasn't worth it.

"Kaiba, we have to stop this game." Yami used the last of his strength to say before he fully pushed the ice out of him, the acid being pulled with it. Yami then fell forward. Thankfully, he was caught by Grandpa.

Yami's words made Seto shake his head, seeming to bring him back to reality too. "I think it was already ended." He said as he gestured to the broken duel disk, the life point counter's shattered screen still flickering away. Junior then also looked down.

"Did I do that?" Junior asked as he looked over the crushed generation one duel disk. The only duel disk in this particular style made with metal and glass parts instead of the later plastic. He then looked down at his hand as if looking for an explanation. His confusion only grew. "I'm strong, but... not crush metal in one hand strong." he murmured to only his family.

"We had it in the junk box for a reason, it was already a little bent thanks to Yami luging it around the California desert," Yui shrugged. Her focus at the time was on Yami as she tried to look for injuries on him.

Yami wasn't reassured by Yui's explanation, but he couldn't focus on that at the moment. He had to gather all his strength to push through the painful static that now filled him to speak. "Nonetheless Kaiba. You need to say this game is over." Yugi gasped.

"You're the one that started this. Get another duel disk." Kaiba ordered. Yami weakly shook his head, not caring how fragile it made him seem. He wouldn't let those horrible feelings return, even if he had to forfeit the game and take the penalty.

"He won't believe this is a cursed game, right? Even with getting hurt himself?" Junior whispered to Yami. Yami was barely able to nod his head.

With that, Junior turned to Kaiba with a snarl. "Something's clearly up with your system, Kaiba! First, the holograms go crazy this morning, and now this!" Junior said as he pointed to the two places where people had collided with magic. "Yami's right, you two have to stop this duel."

"Even if you continue, this will not be a true win for you, Kaiba. Yami's too sick for his heart to be in the cards." Grandpa added.

Seto glanced between the Mutos, not moving. Then he sighed. "You're lucky, Yugi. I would have beaten you." Seto said as he pushed a button on the side of his duel disk that ended the game. With that, the room temperature returned to normal, and the remaining spirits lost their physicality. Yami was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"I don't know why I even humored you. It's not the reason why I came here." Kaiba said as he strode up to the family, Roland quickly catching up and standing nervously behind him. "Now, are you going to go to a hospital?"

"No… they… won't help." Yami managed to say. He then got his family to bend down so he could whisper in their ears. "Get the Blue-Eyes card. I think the only way to fix this is…Yugi."

Junior nodded to him and stood up to face Kaiba. "We'll deal with his health later, you don't have to worry about that. But what I am wondering is, why you came here in the first place?"

"I told you that when I first entered the house," Seto said as he crossed his arms.

"Right…" Junior sighed as he once again rubbed the spot on his chest where the attack hit him. "As I said before, I am not coming with you to talk _alone_. I trust KaibaCorp about as far as I could throw you out of my house. If you got something you want from me, you can say it in front of my family."

"Are you sure about that Dragon? There's nothing about your time working for Gozaburo you don't want your family to know?" Seto asked with a skeptic eyebrow raise.

Junior turned away and looked to Yami. Yami couldn't read his facial expression, but he did see as the man's face darkened. Junior then picked up the limp boy from Grandpa's arms and set him on the couch.

"My name is Solomon. Dragon is long dead," Junior said in a low voice, not turning to face the others.

"I don't quite believe that," Seto answered.

This made Junior turn angrily to the CEO. "What proof do you need then? Is more than a decade of silence not enough?!" The room, even with no shadow magic, seemed to frost over at that sentence.

Before things could escalate again, both Junior, Yami, and even Seto paused. They all immediately felt her presence, even before she strode in through the wall. A Blue-Eyes walked in and bent down to keep her head from going through the ceiling. Yami watched (ignoring how much Junior seemed to panic when he saw her) as the female Blue-Eyes White Dragon spirit went to Seto's side and then flopped down. Her tail curled around the unflinching Seto, lazily flicking back and forth. The male Blue-Eyes happily greeted her as Dark Magician gave a little bow to her. The sorcerer then floated to the couch to stand guard by Yami.

The female Blue-Eyes then reached up to Seto's chest with her tail tip and slightly touched the picture-holder he had around his neck. Being a spirit, she didn't affect it; she didn't even slightly shake it. Yami, even though the immobilizing static now swamped him, tried to focus on the dragon. Yami didn't think Seto could see her, so why did she pretend to play with his necklace? He then noticed an almost immediate change in Seto. It was subtle, but the slight shift of his feet and his shoulder's lowering was enough for both Yami and Junior to see that Kaiba was just a bit calmer.

Junior paused. He seemed to think for a bit, studying Seto. Then he spoke, his words coming out slowly. "No, you're face shows it all. You really don't care about me. It's something else you want."

Seto shifted a little, and the dragon curled around him turned her gaze to Junior. "I would prefer to talk about this, alone, at KaibaCorp."

"I said I would never walk into that headquarters again, and I meant it, even if it's the new one in America." Junior then leaned back as he analyzed the situation. "It's not about me, huh?" Junior shook his head and spoke. "Is it the Gozaburo blackmail I have?"

Seto leaning in a little closer was all Junior needed.

"That? Coming over here now was about that? But it's blackmail for Gozaburo specifically. It wouldn't affect KaibaCorp or you in any way. Its things like the Schroeder Files and the Sacred Beast charts, they mean nothing to KaibaCorp or the public anymore."

"Is that all you have?" Kaiba asked. If Yami didn't know him any better, he might have thought Seto sounded slightly worried.

Junior shook his head. "I really have nothing else you could want… other than the code to Noah's old computer, but Yami told me that place exploded."

Seto's eyes slightly grew larger, though he quickly hid his reaction. "Code… Is it merely a code? Our records of missing inventory show you might have something… quite different."

"Uh…" Junior glanced at Yami, but Yami couldn't even shrug to him. Junior returned his gaze to Seto. "I heard it referred to as both a code and a key. I don't know technology terms, so I used those names interchangeably. Is it… something more?"

Kaiba took in a deep breath to calm himself. "Do you mean, a Code-8R41N Key?"

"Yeah! That's what it was called. It's a little computer-like thingy that I had to swear up and down that I would always keep plugged in back when Gozaburo entrusted it to me." Junior then paused. "But there's nothing on it. It's just a tiny black box. I had a friend try to data-mine it when I first left KaibaCorp. She found nothing on it."

"Have you kept it continually 'plugged in?'" Seto asked, his voice slightly rising.

"Yes. It's always been plugged in at the location I have it hidden away. Even after Gozaburo's… disappearance, I kept all my blackmail, just in case." Junior shrugged. "The only thing it's done in the last decade was flash a light on its side about a year ago.

The gears could clearly be seen turning in Seto's head. Then a half-smirk made its way to his face. Then that smirk slowly grew into full-on chuckling.

"So Mokuba was right all along. Noah, that little…" Seto then started rubbing his forehead. "What better place to transfer his back-up data than Gozaburo's enemy?"

**Alternate chapter title: Make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw against the two dragons' frightful presence. Hakairyuu and Yugi, you succeed. And oh! Yami-Zorc, you failed.**

**OR**

**What's with the Mutos continued need to jump in front of shadow game attacks?**


	33. Who Needs Couples Therapy?

"Wait! Gandora!" Yugi yelped as he ran to Hakairyuu's side. Other dragons turned to Yugi, probably because "Gandora" wasn't the best indicator of who he was talking to. Yugi ignored them because the only dragon he wanted the attention of didn't turn to him. Instead, Hakairyuu's focus was on Giga as the two strode past the pool of water to the middle of the camp. Both dragons were still in the shadow of the large crystal cluster.

"Don't do this!" Yugi said as he finally caught up to Hakairyuu and stopped her by lightly tugging on her tail. While she was trying to remain tall and fearless, Yugi could see signs of worry on her face.

Yugi tried to speak again, but he was breathing too heavily. It didn't help that his headache seemed to throb every few seconds. Hakairyuu, once she realized how weak Yugi was, kneeled down and shifted her body to block him from the other Gandoras' view.

"Didn't we come to make peace with the Gandora? Not start more fights?" Yugi managed to gasp. He attempted to stand to face his friend but found he had to lean forward to rest his knees.

"Yugi…" Hakairyuu glanced back to Giga, who was very impatiently pacing on one side of the clearing. She then shook her head. "I have to do this."

"But, isn't there another way without fighting?"

"I'm sure there is, but I think this is the fastest way to get it through Giga's thick skull that-" Hakairyuu paused and took in a deep breath. She then let it out as a puff of smoke. "The Gandora tradition of dueling for leadership is the fastest way to get Giga and the others on our side." She then gently lifted Yugi's chin, so he wasn't looking down. "These duels are never to the death. I'll be fine."

"The last battle Giga arranged seemed more life-threatening," Yugi said, remembering his first battle with Hakairyuu. Back then, Giga wanted to leave Hakairyuu buried under a collapsed rock pillar. He also attempted to trick Yugi into stabbing her as a last-ditch effort to strengthen her.

"I really can't account for the change in Giga. While he's always been a grump, he's never been this…" They both turned to Giga to see him still impatiently pacing. He had become a caged predator, eager for his meat to be thrown in through his bars. Hakairyuu could only shake her head. "…I hope this fight will knock some sense into him."

Before Yugi could argue, Hakairyuu placed a claw on his lips. "I admit it's for a very selfish reason, but I need to do this." Yugi knew well her unsaid reasons for this duel, that didn't mean he liked them. He could only look up pleadingly in response. This made Hakairyuu laugh. Her next words were in a much more joking voice. "I mean, how often to you get such a good excuse to beat up your ex than saving your archetype?"

Yugi was about to try to dissuade her again when his legs gave out. He started to fall forward, only for Hakairyuu to catch him.

"I don't want you hurt again," Yugi said as he hugged her arm. "If you really must, let me help you. As a spirit partner maybe, I can-"

"Oh, come now, little one. You don't think I'm strong enough to beat that big old brute? You wound me." Hakairyuu said in a strained laugh. "Besides, this has to be one-on-one. You getting involved in any way would turn the whole horde against us."

Yugi sighed in defeat. "Gandora, please be careful…"

Hakairyuu leaned down and nuzzled Yugi's head. "Call me Hakairyuu. It is my name. I don't know why I was so ashamed to use it before."

At that moment, Dark Magician Girl floated over to the two. The domain leader made it look like she only came over to give Hakairyuu some comforting words, but she also came to help Yugi to his feet. Once Dark Magician Girl knew she couldn't convince Hakairyuu against the duel either, she somberly nodded.

"Good luck." Dark Magician Girl managed a convincing smile and then magically helped Yugi walk away.

Dark Magician Girl set Yugi down on a rock. Yugi had to use all his strength not to collapse into a nervous heap. Once they were situated, Hakairyuu gave them a thumbs up and went to stand in front of Giga. For what seemed like forever, the two simply stood there, sizing the other up. The other Gandora had gathered closer, making the walls of their arena. None in the horde dared speak, leaving the wind the only one brave enough to make a sound.

It was unbearably quiet between the two as everyone waited to see who would be the first to attack. This is why both Yugi and Dark Magician Girl jumped so high when they heard a group of Gandora gather near them. At first, the two were prepared for the worse, but the four Gandora didn't pay them any attention. Yugi thought they must have been trying to get away from the crowd.

"I hope Giga finishes this in one move. I don't think I could bear the usually long dance of trading damage." A large male Gandora whispered as he nervously chewed on his claws. Beside him was a tiny Gandora Yugi recognized as Pieire and two more females. One female had scars all across her chest and looked overly excited for the fight. The other female was taller than the rest of the group and seemed just as nervous as the big male.

"Have you've ever actually seen Hakairyuu in battle, Havoc? She's a flailing hatchling." The scarred female said with a dismissive sniff. "She won't know where to attack to actually knock Giga out. If, by some miracle, Giga doesn't end her immediately, she'll have no idea how to effectively use the damage. She'll just end up giving any strength she gained back to Giga. Then he'll go for the final blow."

"I don't know, Ruin. Growing up, Hakairyuu seemed to know where my weak spots were whenever she caught me stealing rations." Pieire said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"And Giga's been off for a while, He might do something stup-" The nervous female began to say when she was cut off by the scarred dragon named Ruin.

"Don't speak about Giga like that! Especially with…" Ruin used her tail to point out Yugi and Dark Magician Girl, who were trying to hide the fact they were listening. When Yugi knew he had been caught eavesdropping, he gave the dragons an awkward wave. The four immediately stiffened when they realized just how close they were to the human. Havoc just about bit off the rest of his nails, and the tall female and Pieire backed off a couple of steps, hiding behind Ruin.

"Don't mind us." Yugi tried to sound polite. Dark Magician Girl also gave them a tense smile. The group of four slunk away a couple of paces. They did their best to make it seem like they were getting better seats instead of fleeing. The tall female in her nervousness actually bowed to Yugi briefly before running after her friends.

"Why in the world did you bow to him, Mayhem?! He's the enemy!" Yugi heard Ruin admonish her friend.

"I don't know! He's the Pharaoh's host! What was I supposed to do?!" Mayhem squeaked

"Not show weakness, that's what!" Ruin continued, though her bravado sounded forced.

Yugi suppressed a smile. Was he something to be scared of? He knew he was famous amongst monsters, but Yugi hadn't thought of how threatening he might seem. Though, any authority he might have had seemed to be lost on Giga, especially back when Yugi refused to leave Hakairyuu buried. This thought just put Yugi more on edge as he fidgeted in his seat.

"Come on, Yugi. We can trust Hakairyuu." Dark Magician Girl tried to cheer him up. "It's not like you to have so little faith in your friends."

"It's not that I don't have faith in her! It's just... I've seen how strong she can be, she really is a powerful monster… But I've also seen her lose every single serious fight she's been in."

This comment made Dark Magician Girl turn worriedly to Yugi. "Really?"

"Her fight with me, her fight against the Silent mercenaries… She did tie with Silent Magician, but that might have been because Silent Magician was low on power." Yugi gulped.

A roar from both combatants signaled the beginning of the duel. Yugi braced himself for a loud clash of muscle and claws, but nothing came. The two simply began circling the other, the two keeping back a few feet. Yugi and Dark Magician Girl watched intently, but nothing happened for what seemed like minutes. Yugi began to hope that maybe Gandora duels were only displays of dominance and not physical fights. That hope was dashed as Hakairyuu suddenly lunged forward; jaw stretched open in an attempt to shut around Giga's neck.

Giga, briefly looking away from Hakairyuu, gave her the chance to surprise him. A small smirk from Giga made Yugi think he had purposefully lured her into making the first attack. He expertly dodged her bite, pushing her off-course as if she was an annoying fly. He then used her natural unbalance to tackle her. She had no chance against his larger size as he used all his weight to pin her to the ground. Hakairyuu, though one of her arms was trapped under his grip, continued to block his close-ranged bites and punches with her free hand and wings.

It seemed like Giga was trying to bite her neck. All his focus was on that target as he simply shrugged off her punches and scratches. Yugi was surprised that Giga never bit down hard if he couldn't get a direct bite on her neck, even giving up some grip on her other arm just so he could pull away quicker. Yugi at first thought that this might be a sign he didn't really want to hurt Hakairyuu. But it was a bright flicker from Hakairyuu's orbs that reminded Yugi of what Giga was actually trying to avoid.

Giga had managed to pin Hakairyuu's two arms and once again aimed for her neck. Hakairyuu, in her attempt to twist out of his clutches, managed to turn in such a way her wing was in the path of Giga's jaw, and he closed around it with a vice-like grip. The crimson flash of her orbs became the lightening before the wing's sickening crack and Hakairyuu's pained roar. Giga immediately realized his mistake, but by then, it was too late. The larger Gandora was thrown across the clearing like he was nothing more than a ragdoll.

Giga flew many feet before he hit the ground with a resounding thud. But as soon as the dust he kicked up cleared, he was back to his feet. Hakairyuu was already standing across the way, ready for the next attack, but none came. It became another game of the two circling each other; Hakairyuu flashing her newly lit orbs in threat whenever it looked like Giga was about to lunge. While Hakairyuu now had more power, the painful angle her wing now hung off her shoulder made any ground she gained seem almost not worth it.

"You must know how outmatched you are," Giga growled.

"While this fight has been very enlightening, being outmatched isn't something I've learned yet." Hakairyuu gave a pained smirk as she continued to match Giga's movements.

"Oh, and what have you learned?"

"Not learned, I just realized I have no idea what I ever saw in you before. I know you originally did it to protect your 'strong image,' but you really did me a favor when you broke up with me."

Giga sharply inhaled before he pounced at Hakairyuu with abandon. His sudden speed surprised Hakairyuu as she instinctively answered with an uppercut straight to his lower jaw. The following crack had Yugi, and a few other Gandora flinch. Giga seemed not to notice any pain as his orbs flicked to life. Hakairyuu only had moments before Giga barreled into her belly. She was forced back but managed to stay on her feet. Yugi could almost hear the whole horde sign in relief as the two began circling the other again.

"You were never made for fighting, worm! Just stick your neck out, and this can be over!" Giga growled.

"I refuse to back down! I may have never enjoyed the war like you seemingly did, but-" Hakairyuu began before being cut off.

"Enjoyed? Enjoyed?! How could I have 'enjoyed' something like that!? You were never there to see how we were sent to our deaths every day, with our commanders fully supporting our demises. You never had to make the hard decisions to get as many back alive as possible. You simply sat back in camp, complaining of our 'fighting spirits' and contradicting everything we did to prove we were Gandora! Everything we did to keep ourselves sane!"

Hakairyuu paused for a moment, and Giga immediately set upon her hesitation. He pushed her into the side of the massive crystal cluster, the crash echoing around the ravine. While he had her trapped once again, Giga didn't attempt to bite her neck. Instead, he opened his mouth as a great light began to gather in his throat. Hakairyuu saw the building energy and seemed to freeze. Yugi and Dark Magician Girl froze too as they feared their friend was now a deer in headlights. But right as Giga was about to unleash his attack, Hakairyuu raised both her feet and kicked hard into his gut. His grip loosened enough for her to fall to the ground, right as Giga breathed his attack.

Giga's built up power hadn't been equal to the massive waves of energy Yugi had seen him breathe before, but it was still a devastating blast. The attack bore into the crystal and took out a sizable chunk. This caused the camp to be covered in smoke and dust. Hiding the combatants from view.

Many Gandora began flapping their wings to try and clear the dust. Dark Magician Girl even used some of her magic to help them along. At first, only a bright red gleam could be seen. Yugi initially thought it was from Giga, but then he saw how the light spread higher and farther than Giga's height. The energy was actually emanating from the crystal cluster. This red light pulsed around the area where Giga's breath had collided with the rocks. This glow didn't last long, and it faded away along with the remaining smoke.

Silhouettes of two dragons soon came into view. One leaned heavily on the crystals, his orbs dimly lit. The other one stood proudly a few feet away, having managed to crawl out from under Giga during the blast.

"Giga, you know proving strength is not what makes us Gandora. The point we've pushed this need to demonstrate our power is completely toxic. But we are out of the war now! We don't need that fighting spirit anymore!"

Once Giga saw Hakairyuu was still standing, he immediately leaped at her, not taking another second to catch his breath. It was a wild lunge, and she was able to dodge it easily. Instead of using his brief moment of unbalance to attack, Hakairyuu backed off another few steps. The Gandora around noticed this just as Yugi did. Yugi heard as they murmured their thoughts on why she didn't use this opportunity. Yugi sighed, while Hakairyuu was holding her own, she wasn't a fighter. She really didn't want to hurt Giga, and Yugi worried Giga would use that against her. Just as villains had done to Yugi many times before.

"What would you know of our fighting spirit?! You never seemed to have our same pride, always wilting before the opposition, or going on the defensive when you should have been attacking!'" Giga said.

Hakairyuu didn't react. She merely prepared for his next attack. Giga saw this and, for a second, paused. He then gave an exhausted and hollow laugh. "Then again… that was always something I liked about you. No matter what battles and tribulation pulled us down, you were always there."

Hearing this surprised Hakairyuu just as much as the crowd of dragons around. "Giga?"

"But now I know that wasn't any kind of strength. It was your cowardice!" Giga shouted.

Without any other warning, Giga lunged at Hakairyuu. She was able to react just in time to brace herself. The two crashed into each other, their claws interlocked as their faces were inches from each other. The force of their collision was evident in their straining muscles. Even though Hakairyuu had the most built-up power, shown by her brighter orbs, Giga still equaled her. They were in a deadlock.

"Huh, for once in your life, you didn't turn tail and run. I will give you props for that." Giga growled as the two continued to grapple.

"I-" Hakairyuu took in a shaky breath. Yugi could tell she was starting to have problems matching Giga. "I will be the first to admit I was a coward to leave you at the border, and I'm sorry for the pain I caused. But that does not excuse your response to it!"

Giga was quiet for a few moments. Then his mouth turned down in an insane fury. "Sorry?!"

Giga shifted tactics so fast that even the other Gandora had a hard time following. He pulled back, yanking Hakairyuu off her feet. He then dragged her into a headbutt, the resulting crack made Yugi shiver. Both their head orbs stabbed into the other, causing bleeding on both sides. Giga immediately used this power increase to throw Hakairyuu across the field. Hakairyuu only had time to barely stagger to her knees before Giga was on her again, slashing at her with a wild frenzy. Hakairyuu could only barely bring up her arms to defend against the continual slashes.

"You're sorry!? Oh, that just makes up for everything!" Giga roared, ending each sentence with another attack. "It was a month, a month! We had to survive out in the unforgiving domains around here while you lived it up in here, only thinking to bring us in when your guilt got to you!"

"I was mourning!"

"We were all mourning! We all watched our closest friends and family die. But because you let ONE of your hatchlings die, suddenly you get the privilege to shut down and abandon us!" Giga kept up his barrage. "Now you dare to come here and declare you've found the answer to all our problems! Just like before, when you found that map! Once this goes wrong, are you going to abandon us again?! Will you run away with your new friends and leave us to the Silents?!" Giga was starting to slow down in his relentless attacks.

"Do what you do best. Run." Giga's arm swung down for one last attack, only for Hakairyuu to catch it.

The horde gasped as Hakairyuu lowered her other arm, showing that all her orbs were radiating a blinding red. She had let Giga wail on her to power herself up. She then yanked Giga down, so they were nose to nose.

"I'm not running anymore." She snarled.

Yugi recognized that Hakairyuu was about to detonate. He remembered after all other Gandora exploded, they fainted afterward. That wouldn't be good for Hakairyuu if Giga managed to survive her explosion.

Before thinking, Yugi immediately jumped to his feet and yelled. "Hakairyuu! Use that energy for a breath attack!"

Hakairyuu's body responded faster than any Gandora thought possible. Usually, it took a few seconds for a Gandora to build up their breath, let alone switch gears from detonating to moving all that energy to the throat. But somehow Hakairyuu did it, even before Yugi finished yelling his sentence. What's more, the force seemed to gain in power, it turned from a crimson to a scarlet red. Giga only had time to widen his eyes before the attack went off.

In a flare that could be seen for miles around, Hakairyuu sent a blast of energy right into Giga's face. She released her hold on him and let the power send him flying back into the crystal cluster. Like on the mountainside, the breath kept going, plowing through the crystal formation and destroying its base. The entire crystalline structure grew the same scarlet red as Hakairyuu's attack, then it completely collapsed. Before the energy had the chance to dissipate, Giga was buried in an echoing clatter of stone.

The remains of the energy were thrown in multiple directions, the crystals seeming to reflect it, including sending it right into the bystanders. The horde didn't have time to move, but Dark Magician Girl did. All of a sudden, nearly all the Gandora were thrown into the air by pink-colored magic. The angry red energy barely missed the Gandora and plowed into the rock walls or petered out above the water. Dark Magician Girl couldn't levitate the Gandora, especially in such large numbers. So, the dragons fell back to the earth nearly as quickly as they were thrown up. Dark Magician Girl followed suit as she collapsed onto Yugi. Yugi didn't have the strength to hold himself up, let alone her. In only about five seconds, everyone but Hakairyuu had fallen to the ground.

Yugi groaned as his headache made his vision grow blurry. But when he could finally blink the sun and pain out of his eyes, he saw as Hakairyuu ran over to the fallen crystals. These crystals were still glowing a bright red, almost as red as the Gandora's own orbs.

"Giga?!" Hakairyuu desperately said as she began to move the fallen crystals aside, some pillars being about as big as her. As she used her strength to move the large rocks, her orbs began to lose their light. She soon found she wasn't moving fast enough for her liking. She looked frantically around at the gathering Gandora.

"What are you waiting for? Help me get him out!"

The crowd was quiet for many moments. Yugi and Dark Magician Girl wanted to run in and help her, but they were having trouble getting to their own feet.

"You… You shouldn't be helping him like that." The Gandora Yugi recognized as Ruin spoke. "He-he lost. Don't ruin your victory by-"

"Deck that! This is what I'm talking about with this toxic mindset. Are you really going to let your fath- Giga die because he lost?!" Hakairyuu roared.

Ruin fell silent and took a few steps back, trying to hide behind the Gandora that had been hiding behind her earlier.

No one moved to help Hakairyuu, so she growled in frustration and returned to digging out Giga. While she was attempting to move one particularly large crystal, the other side of the rock was picked up. She turned in surprise to see the nervous Havoc helping her. He gave her an awkward smile and helped heft the stone. Soon other Gandora ran forward to help. No words passing between any of them.

Yugi was able to get to his feet, with Dark Magician Girl now leaning on him. A small smile found its way to his face as he saw more than half of the horde ran to Giga's aid. One Gandora even came to Yugi's and Dark Magician Girl's side. His name was Pieire if Yugi remembered right.

"Can you levitate the crystals as you did us?" Pieire said in a quiet voice, like he wasn't used to asking for favors.

"Sorry, I used all my power to get you out of danger." Dark Magician Girl managed to say.

"We didn't need your help, you know." Pieire huffed as he stood a little straighter. "We were all strong enough to take the attack."

"But that doesn't mean you had too," Yugi said. This seemed to surprise Pieire a great deal. He didn't seem to know quite how to answer. This made Yugi wonder how ingrained was the Gandora's need to be injured to prove their strength.

A surprised cry got the three's attention. All turned to see a clawed arm shoot out from the crystal debris and clasp around Hakairyuu's neck. Every Gandora immediately backed away as Giga stood, pushing the remaining crystals off his back as if it were nothing. It might genuinely have been nothing to him as his orbs were glowing the brightest Yugi had ever seen from a Gandora. Giga kept his grip on Hakairyuu's neck. She could do nothing but gasp. Then he pushed her into the ground, keeping his tight hold.

"How?" Hakairyuu managed to say.

"Didn't you wonder why I kept these crystals despite ordering everything else in this ravine destroyed? You don't recognize these rocks?" Giga said as he held up one of the still glowing crystals in his other hand. "You should, our ancestors ate nothing but these until they were in our very bodies." He then tapped on one of Hakairyuu's now lightless orbs. "They absorb and store a great deal of damage. They then send it harmlessly into the ground, or in our case, into our muscles."

Giga then yanked Hakairyuu up. "All I had to do was survive your attack until you pushed me into these crystals, they absorbed the rest. I was surprised, though. Your attack was powerful. Enough to even break apart these crystals. But I should have realized sooner, you're a coward and a cheater."

"What?!" Yugi was surprised as the nervous female named Mayhem was the one to speak up this time. "How in the stars has she cheated in this duel?!"

Giga chuckled a low, rumbling laugh as he slowly pointed to Yugi. "Him. I should have noticed sooner how odd it was she brought these two, but now it all makes sense. He's her spirit partner."

Yugi could only clutch his crumbling puzzle as the great dragon stared him down. Yugi didn't recoil; he had stood defiantly in those eyes before. (What actually worried Yugi was how much those glowing red eyes reminded him of his own father. Where had that thought come from?)

"This worm broke the rules of this duel!" Giga bellowed. This brought an appalled hush over the crowd. "The moment the Pharaoh spoke, he gave her power! Helping her when it should have been only her on the battlefield! But even still she could not win!

Giga turned back to Hakairyuu, their gazes locking. "You represent everything we Gandora are not! Cowardly, weak, and…" Giga was cut off as Hakairyuu swiped at him. Even while being strangled, she refused to give up. Seeing this fight in her seemed to off-set Giga for a few moments, pulling him out of his blind rage. But he didn't loosen his grip on her. "I'll end this now." Giga's voice was low. But even by lowering his voice, he couldn't stop it from cracking.

Giga opened his maw once again as another blaze grew within his throat. Hakairyuu's eyes widened when she saw it. She continued to struggle. She seemed to be trying to slip into the pool only a few inches behind her, but couldn't gain any ground in that direction. Yugi wanted to run to Hakairyuu, but his feet refused to work. He tried to speak; his body ultimately failed him as his headache grew into a full-body ache.

Yugi then saw as Hakairyuu managed to wrap her tail around one of Giga's legs. She yanked him off balance, and he fell into a kneeling position. He still kept a death grip on her, but she could use her still working wing to push herself up into a sitting position. The two were eye to eye. Giga's breath still building, but Hakairyuu was in a better place to counter-attack.

"Kick his tail, Mom!" A shout from the crowd made both Hakairyuu and Giga pause. Yugi was initially confused about why that of all things would make the fighters freeze. Then he realized what word had been used in that sentence. A name Hakairyuu had told him was forbidden by the warrior army.

Every creature turned to little Pieire, who seemed shocked even in himself for speaking. "I-I mean…" Pieire then shook his head. A determined rumble came from his throat as he turned back to the horde. "You know what? I mean exactly what I said! I'm tired and done with how things have been. I'm tired of having to be strong twenty-four-seven. I'm tired of pretending to not care about the ones I love because they are 'weaker' than me. And I know you are all too, even Giga! So, I'll yell the words I was never strong enough to before. The thing only my brother ever seemed brave enough to call you two. Mom! Beat some sense into Dad!"

The whole horde was stunned into silence. Even Giga seemed shocked. He took his eyes entirely off Hakairyuu, and his breath died in his throat. Pieire kept standing tall, not backing down from his words. Soon another dragon spoke up.

"Pieire's right!" Mayhem towered over the smaller dragon as she stood by his side. "We finally have some real agency in our life, let's use it for once! Even if Giga wins, I'm still going to follow the Pharaoh's host. Hakairyuu must be on to something if she managed to do something we haven't done in thousands of years. Make a spirit connection!" Mayhem looked back to Hakairyuu. "Beat him, Mom! End this fight!"

Giga's hands slipped from Hakairyuu's neck and fell limply to his side as he looked around at the crowd, Hakairyuu doing the same. Other Gandora began speaking up. In fact, the whole horde seemed to have something to say.

"Yeah! We don't have to listen to the warriors anymore! So why are we still following their law of no connections? Go Mom! Go Dad!"

"If you finish that attack, Father, you'll never forgive yourself."

"I know this won't make up for years of ignoring you, but we can at least start trying to make it better?"

"Down with the warriors, down with the Silents! Lead the way, Ma and Pa!"

"Mom partnered with the Pharaoh's host! Can you actually believe it?! And we get to help him and his other partners! We get to build!"

The two Gandora looked around the crowd in absolute astonishment. Hakairyuu's gaze finally paused on Yugi as he and Dark Magician Girl helped each other hobble over to the mass. Yugi couldn't help but give her a giant grin.

Hakairyuu's eyes began to tear up. She then turned back to Giga. The two looked to each other, seeming to see each other for the first time that day.

"Hakairy-…" Giga said in nearly a whisper. His words died in his throat, and Hakairyuu didn't seem able to say anything either. She would open her mouth, but nothing but strangled air came out. They kept staring at each other, a silent conversation passing between the two.

"Hakairyuu…" Giga tried again. His eyes fell to her still twisted wing, and then to his own claws. He seemed to grow sick to his stomach. Eventually, he could only shake his head. "No, I don't have any right to call you by that name." Yugi then noticed as a strange expression came to Giga's face. Yugi had seen a look like that once before. It had been on Mai's face at the end of her duel with Téa way back during the Duelist Kingdom.

"Let's finish this duel, Gandora the Dragon of Destruction," Giga said in a much firmer voice. Hakairyuu looked to him in surprise and almost outrage. Then her anger fell away when she saw his softened expression. "Let this be the bang to end… all of this." He waved around vaguely at first but ended by gesturing at both himself and Hakairyuu. Hakairyuu was silent for a few more moments, seeming almost sad. The crowd around was still yelling their support for their patriarch and matriarch, looking not to have heard Giga's quiet words. Then Hakairyuu nodded.

As soon as Hakairyuu gave her consent, both leaders immediately jumped to their feet. The horde was taken by surprise by their leaders' quick movements. When they realized the two were continuing their fight, they barely had time to back away. Giga once again began building up a blast attack in his maw, but Hakairyuu wasn't in Giga's grip this time. What's more, Giga didn't seem to be defending himself. Hakairyuu was able to use this dropped defense and get in close, jumping into his side. The Gandora archetype's famous unbalance let even the weakened Hakairyuu push Giga to the ground. Then she grabbed the back of his head and pushed his still open mouth into the large pool of water. The water instantly exploded up in a great wave as Giga was unable to stop his breath as he wasted all his power into the pool.

The falling water created a warm sunshower for the crowd. Yugi almost didn't feel the drizzle as he watched Hakairyuu let go of Giga. He came up for air, coughing and sputtering. All waited for the words that no Gandora, especially not the great Giga, had ever said before in a duel.

"I surrender. You win." The words echoed around the empty canyon. Being repeated many times before they finally disappeared. It took a while for it to settle into the crowd. Their great leader Giga just admitted weakness, yet they all knew he wasn't weaker for it.

Hakairyuu was the first to stand, and she offered Giga a hand up. He didn't have time to take it as Hakairyuu was suddenly mobbed by the entire horde. She felt more hugs and apologies then she had ever received before in her life. Many of these were followed by congratulations, only to be cut off by more apologies. Hakairyuu didn't seem to care. She had forgiven her children long ago. What made her finally burst into tears was the repeated word, "mom." It was said with all the sincerity and love she craved. This group would have a long road in front of them, one day did not make up for years of pain, but it was a great start.

Hakairyuu finally had the proof she needed. She wasn't a failure. And while she could never have the single hatchling she wished for back, Hakairyuu now had something else she wanted. As she held Yugi in one arm and one of her hatchlings in the other, she knew. She had her family.


	34. Family Drama

"I have the mind of a kid in my storage?!" Junior yelped.

Yami, like the rest of the room, was utterly silent. Yui looked about as horrified as her husband. Grandpa and Roland were too confused to know what to feel. The Pharaoh didn't know how to react either. Was Noah still around? The kid with a god complex? Should Yami be fearful or relieved? The static buzzing inside him didn't help much with his emotional reactions. Yami felt like he was ten seconds behind everyone else in his responses. By the time he turned to Dark Magician to see what he felt, the spirit had turned away. Dark Magician was silently communicating with the female Blue-Eyes at Seto's side. Both were too focused on their wordless conversation to notice the situation unfolding around them.

Seto continued standing in the middle of the room in front of Junior and the Mutos. While he remained in this stiff posture, he couldn't hide how he shifted his weight from foot to foot. He then answered Junior in a flat tone. "Maybe."

"Oh God! Is that boy ok?! What am I saying, of course he's not! He's been in a tiny black box for the last year!" Junior said, seeming to become nauseated.

Seto studied, almost skeptically, Junior's reaction for a few moments. "Noah wouldn't be aware if this is the device you have. That box isn't complex enough to sustain thought. It would be simply holding his data."

"Is it like he's asleep?" Grandpa asked. Seto merely nodded. At this, Junior leaned up against the wall as he breathed a long sigh of relief. Seto's head tilted as he continued to study Junior.

Junior then perked up. "Wait. Is this the Noah that's learned from his experiences with you guys, or is this earlier back-up data? The Noah that wanted to do some nasty things to the world?"

"I… I am unsure," Seto said while pulling back a little from the crowd. "But that won't be your concern when you hand over that key."

"Oh, it'd be my concern if he nukes the world or something when you plug him into one of your computers. Wait, didn't this boy purposefully sacrifice himself? Does he even want to come back? Is it right to bring him back in his limited state?" Junior rubbed his forehead as he became overwhelmed again.

Seto was silent for many more moments, his eyes darting from Junior to Yami. Then he said. "I didn't think you the type to care about ethics."

Junior face fell into a glare as he immediately straightened up. The two locked eyes and fell silent, nothing passing between the two for a very cold minute. The others in the room felt the full effects of this tension, Roland even seeming ready to leap to his boss's aid. Then, Seto spoke again.

"You were once excellent at not questioning the orders you were given. I suggest you use that training now. No matter what you actually have, it is KaibaCorp property, and I _will_ have it."

Junior paused and took a step back from Seto. He held still, seeming not to know what to do with himself. He slowly turned around to face his family. Yui and Grandpa tried to give him a reassuring smile, but his eyes were only on the immobile Yami. Junior's eyes then narrowed. He crossed his arms and turned back to Kaiba.

"You want to deal like that? Fine. I'll give you the key, but I'm going to need a little more incentive, Mr. Kaiba. You did barge into my home and hurt both my son and me today. I need assurance that you'll keep the truce up between KaibaCorp and myself. I don't want you coming after me once you have my last bit of insurance against you. Also, I'll need some proof that you won't hurt Noah once you get him. I know the kid did some evil things, but I don't want to hand him over just for you to experiment on."

Yami watched as Seto assumed his "businessman" expression as he pulled out some sort of small device. It was the size of a cellphone, but it seemed much more advanced than any flip-phone Yami had seen.

"Why would I give you something like that? It was your son that led to your pain. I have no need to tell you anything about what I will do regarding my own broth- to my own property. And you did just admit that all your blackmail was for Gozaburo only. I have no reason to want to keep up a truce like that."

"Kaiba," Yami warned in a surprisingly strong voice for his state. Seto glanced at him briefly, then back to Junior. For a moment, his eyes lingered on Junior's arms. Yami tried to see if anything was there, but the most he saw was a few of Junior's tattoos poking out of his sleeve.

"Very well," Seto said. "By assurance, I assume you mean compensation..."

Yami was sure if this was any other man demanding something like this from Kaiba, Seto wouldn't have stood for it. But being his rival's father probably was saving Junior at the moment. And yet… There was something else there. Yami then wondered if Seto had ever met Junior when they were younger. A shiver then went up the Pharaoh's spine, imagining the horrible scenarios that could have facilitated that meeting.

After another anxious silence, Seto spoke. "You never ended your personal contract with KaibaCorp. My step-father must have held onto it in some hope that you'd come back, or more likely, hopes he could use it against you in the future. If we officially ended this contract, you'll get a large monetary payment, and our partnership will legitimately be over. There, your 'assurance.'"

Seto then turned the device around to show its screen. Both Grandpa and Yui moved closer to see it, blocking it from Yami's view. The Pharaoh could only barely see a string of numbers. It must have been a rather large string as Grandpa let out an impressed whistle.

After a moment of stunned silence, Junior spoke. "That… That is very kind of you. I'll happily accept ending the contract, but money wasn't what I meant. I want some temporary protection for both Noah and me until this is all over." Junior took a deep breath and spoke in his calmest voice. "I'd like to hold onto one of your Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards."

Seto just about leaped away from Junior. His hand protectively flew to his deck pouch as he scowled. At the same time, the male Blue-Eyes in the room roared and lunged at Junior. Even if the duel spirit wouldn't have been able to hurt Junior, it was still a terrifying sight for those that could see it. Junior didn't budge as he kept his determined gaze on Kaiba, not even as the spirit's teeth were inches from his face. Yami was then surprised to see Dark Magician jump into action. The mage left the other dragon's side and flew in-between Junior and the angry Blue-Eyes. The mage raised his scepter and kept it pointed at the dragon's neck. The Blue-Eyes was forced to back off a few steps, and he snarled at Dark Magician. Dark Magician was unphased.

Seto seemed too offended that Junior even thought about taking one of his Blue-Eyes to speak. Junior saw this and took another deep breath. He steeled himself and took a step towards Kaiba.

"I'm not planning on keeping the card. You have my word that you'll get it back once all this is over." Junior said, doing his best to keep his voice steady. It didn't escape Yami's notice that Junior didn't give a definitive time when he'd give the card back. The father must have chosen his words carefully so they would have as much time with the card as they needed to get Yugi back. But that meant Seto would have noticed that vagueness also, and it would undoubtedly make him trust Junior even less.

Seto glared at Junior, his hand hovered protectively around his deck. Yami seeing this and knowing they were so close to having all the pieces to get Yugi back, spoke before he thought.

"What's wrong, Kaiba? Worried we would rip it so it can't be used against us?" Yami said with a surprising amount of spite. Even Roland turned in shock at Yami's comment. Yami quickly looked away from everyone as he began internally admonishing himself. He thought he had pushed out all the frozen acid from before, but it must still have been there, simply buried below the static.

"Right…" Junior said, his worry for Yami growing. He took another breath and continued with Seto. "I know how much the card means to you, Kaiba. I promise no harm will come to it. I thought this was simply the quickest way for me to feel secure in this transaction of ours."

Seto remained still. It was then the female Blue-Eyes stood and padded to the male dragon. She made him back off Dark Magician with a simple touch of her wing. She then returned to Kaiba's side, once again briefly touching his necklace.

Seto's eyes darted to Yami again. Yami didn't dare make eye contact. It was a few more moments before Seto relaxed his stance. He finally spoke (in more of a command than a question), "If you won't come to KaibaCorp to negotiate, can we at least speak in a different room?"

Junior nodded and seemed wholly relieved. "That I can do."

Junior gestured for Seto to accompany him into the hall. Roland tried to follow, but Seto shooed him away.

As Junior walked by his family, Grandpa gave him a comforting pat on his shoulder before the two disappeared deeper into the house. The two Blue-Eyes followed Seto to the best of their abilities in the tight halls. As they left, Dark Magician floated behind the couch, silently watching over Yami.

Yami deeply sighed. They were so close to getting Yugi back. He just had to put his faith in Junior. That thought didn't make him feel much better, but it was still more faith in Junior than Yami had for him when they first met. Yami decided to lean into that hope and tried to focus on something else. And it wasn't long before Yami's mind was swamped by other, more horrifying thoughts.

Yami tried to find some way to be comfortable with his body being unwilling to move and pinpricks of pain continually stabbing him. Yami's body seemed to be turned against him, but that didn't compare to how bad things had been just a few minutes before. A shadow game! He barely had the magic to lift a candy bar earlier. How had he gotten enough power to accidentally begin a shadow game? Add on that burning rage from earlier, what was going on with him? The more he tried to think, the fewer answers he got. The buzzing in his very cells seemed to cut off any complex thought Yami had. The way his body refused to respond to any commands wasn't making it any better. How could Yami help get Yugi back if he couldn't even move?

_You could let the cold fully back in. You know what to expect now. You could control-_

Yeah, no.

Yami cut off that thought about as quickly as it came. It was that same perplexing feeling from before. That it wasn't him that thought that, yet it was very much his voice that said it.

"Yami?" Yui whispered as she sat down beside Yami on the couch. Her cutting into his inner reflections would have made Yami jump if his body could have allowed it.

"Yes?" Yami asked, his words back to being slow and nearly in a whisper. It seemed he only had the strength to use his voice when he was threatening Kaiba. The only thing Yami could do with that realization was add it to his humongous pile of other worries and bad omens.

"You look worse. And I wasn't sure that was possible." Yui said as she gently pushed Yami's bangs away from his eyes.

"And what was going on before? We know that duel had something else happening." Grandpa quietly added as he came to Yui's side.

Yami cringed. While he didn't exactly have a clearer head, he was distant enough from those events to see how he could have worried the Mutos.

"I-I don't know." Yami decided to be honest. "I don't want to talk about it. At least not right now."

Grandpa and Yui glanced worriedly at each other. But they respected Yami's wishes and didn't bring it back up. They all remained hushed for many more minutes, waiting with held breaths for the two to finish talking.

Roland was awkwardly standing across the room. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself as he fidgeted in place. He appeared to be made most uncomfortable by Yui's presence. In return, Yui was doing her best not to make eye contact with Roland. It actually kinda reminded Yami of his interactions with Trudge in the police station.

Soon Grandpa noticed how uncomfortable Roland was and his need to be everyone's grandfather took over. Once he knew Yami at least wasn't getting any worse, he waved to Roland.

"I've seen you a few times, but we've never met before. Hello, I'm Solomon Muto. The Senior one, if my youthful beauty didn't make that obvious." Grandpa said as he walked over to Roland.

Roland seemed surprised, but let a small smile peek through. The two began talking as Yui kept to Yami's side. Soon Grandpa got Roland talking enthusiastically about an out-of-print game Yami only barely recognized the name of. Yami couldn't help but smile to see his grandfather's friendliness make Roland relax.

As they waited, barely hearing the voices in the next room over, Yui began to gently run her hand through Yami's hair. Yami very awkwardly pushed into her hand. He didn't care how childish it made him seem; her touch became his anchor at the moment. The static pricking his every nerve was very close to driving him mad. But feeling her there, knowing she cared for him with these simple gestures, made all the world to him. He still felt the heavy pain though. He tried to hide it, but it was slowly becoming overwhelming.

"Are you sure you're ok, Yami?" Yui whispered. "Is there nothing I can do for you?"

Yami bit the edge of his lips. "Help me focus on something else." He answered in a low voice. Yui nodded and seemed to be thinking of a topic when something on Yami's head caught her eye.

"Oh my." Yui leaned in close as she started parting his hair. "I didn't think you would get this."

Grandpa and Roland looked over. Even Dark Magician bent down to look at Yami's head. Grandpa asked what Yui was talking about, and she gestured him over, showing the hair she parted. The Pharaoh really hoped this was Yui's attempt at distracting him and not actually something wrong with his head.

"As white as snow. Now I wonder if this is something only the Pharaoh has or if Yugi will get this." Grandpa whispered.

"What?" Yami asked. He failed at keeping his voice from rising.

"You have some white hairs hidden behind your ears. If you really did get my family's genes, it won't be many more years until your whole head's completely white." Yui said with a slight giggle.

"But isn't that something that only happens if you're born with white hair or are really old?" Yami managed to ask. Of all the thoughts that could have been in Yami's head at that moment, it was Bakura's image with his stark white hair that stuck.

"No. My hair's completely white, and that happened in my twenties." Yui said.

If Yami could of, he would have slapped his forehead for insulting his new mother. He tried to give her an apologetic smile, but he felt like it came out as more of a grimace. She gave back an understanding grin.

"Right, you wouldn't know," Yui said. "In my family, we would have the brightest magenta hair when we were young. There sometimes would be other colors such as black or brown, my brother Akna for example. But no matter the color, it would all turn into the clearest white around our twenties." She shrugged. "It's nothing to be embarrassed over, I just thought since Yugi-" she paused as she realized Roland was listening. "Since you took very much after your father, I thought you might have avoided it." Yui then noticed Yami's best attempts at hiding his apprehension. "And you still might! I have no idea how aging affects your three colors."

Grandpa chuckled as he took off his bandana and let his grey hair spike up. "I originally had your blonde bangs and black middle. But my tips were brown. It was your grandmother that brought the red hair color of your father. I didn't grey until much later in life, and it started at the base like this." he said as he gestured to Yami's head.

Yami suddenly felt very self-conscious and tried to reach up to rub his head, but found he didn't have enough energy. He ended up looking to Dark Magician again, but as always, the duel spirit had no comment. The mage even seemed determined not to look at Yami at that moment.

"Don't worry, Yugi," Roland suddenly added. As everyone looked to him, he seemed to grow slightly embarrassed. "Don't tell Kaiba I told you this, but he's actually completely white-haired too."

"What?" Grandpa couldn't help but laugh as Yami stared in utter disbelief. Yami… couldn't even imagine that.

"Yes, it apparently runs in his family too. He had barely started high school when he lost all his color. It's actually funny. You met him when he had green hair because Mokuba had recently pranked him, switching his dye from brown. Seto being too proud to admit he fell for his brother's childish trick, really leaned into the color change. He even convinced Mokuba to turn his hair green too." Roland laughed.

Yami managed a chuckle, remembering back to young Seto. Yami's mind crush must have helped Seto come to grips with many more things than the Pharaoh realized, like how the CEO just could not pull off completely green hair.

"You shouldn't be giving out KaibaCorp secrets like that, Peter." Yui also laughed. "What will your boss think?"

"Peter?" Yami asked.

"My first name," Roland said with a chuckle. "You didn't think my full name was Roland Roland, right?"

"Ahh…" Yami didn't answer, and it absolutely _wasn't_ because he was embarrassed.

"Well, if you do go completely white, at least you'll have a friend in it. That white is probably the only thing the Arai family will ever give you." Yui said, gaining a bit of a sigh at the end.

"Arai?" Seto's harsh voice made everyone jump. They turned to see Kaiba in the doorway. Yami was surprised to see him looking almost furious. The Pharaoh worried that things must not have gone well with Junior, but Seto soon shook away his anger and fell into a blank expression.

"It's her old surname," Junior said as he came up behind Seto. He then looked to Yami, probably realizing that Yami also didn't know much about what they were talking about. "The Arai family were a very money-hungry bunch. Tried to force Yui to marry your step-father to "make up" for all the medical bills she cost them growing up. Too bad she met me." Junior joked as he went to his family's side. "We haven't heard from them in nearly two decades. Good riddance too."

Junior then knelt next to Yami. "You still truckin' champ?" he asked. Yami gave him a tiny smile but found he couldn't do much more. Junior tried to keep his expression calm, but Yami could see his concern.

It was Seto clearing his throat that made the room turn back to him. "The card." Seto reluctantly said. Yami was astounded as Seto held out one of his Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards.

Dark Magician floated into the center of the room, followed by both Blue-Eyed spirits. The female then bent down to nuzzle Seto's side before she went to stand by Grandpa of all people. Dark Magician gave her a friendly pat when she passed him. This made the male dragon growl, but a quick glare from the female shut him up.

"Thank you." Junior was about to take the card when Seto flinched. Kaiba quickly pulled back and grabbed a card sleeve from his deck pouch. He slipped the envelope over the card, then pulled out another larger sleeve and repeated the process.

"If anything happens to this card, you're as dead as you claim Dragon is." Seto just about snarled as Junior took the double-sleeved card.

"Understood, Boss." Junior distractedly said as he looked over the card. Both immediately stiffened once they realized what he said.

Seto glowered. "Don't call me that, _ever_."

"No complaints from my side." Junior instantly agreed as he retreated towards his family.

Seto nodded to them, holding Yami's gaze for a moment. Even with the static, Yami still felt pure hate start to fill him as he met Seto's eyes. Yami was the first to look away, and he didn't look back, even when he heard Seto leave the house.

Yami was about to turn to his family when he realized Roland was also still there. Kaiba's righthand was once again out of his element as he seemed to want to tell Junior something. He kept his hands clasped together as he nervously tapped his fingers.

Junior sighed and was the first to speak. "It's… good to see you, Roland. Seems like you are pretty well off in KaibaCorp if Seto brought you with him as a back-up."

Roland smiled. "Yes, Seto had been an excellent boss to me. I see the years have been kind to you too… Solomon." He said, with an edge of disbelief to his words.

"Yeah, I almost can't believe it either." Junior smiled.

"I admit, the next time I expected to hear about you, I thought you'd either be ruling a country or found dead in a ditch." Roland laughed. Junior gave a hollow, forced chuckle in return. This made Roland's smile abruptly disappear, and he started backtracking his words. "I mean, I didn't think you weren't strong enough to face being in normal society. It's just you kept your life outside so hidden, most of us men thought you lived in KaibaCorp or with Gozaburo or something. I-I mean, by living with Gozaburo, I meant…" Roland continued to ramble for a bit, saying some pretty embarrassing things for both men. It was clear Junior was trying to be polite, but the more Roland spoke, the more annoyed he became.

Eventually, Junior cut in. "Roland, shut up."

"Yes, sir," Roland mumbled.

This made Yui stand up and walk over to the two. "It's been great to see you again, Peter. But isn't Kaiba waiting for you?" She said.

"Right! Well… err… see you two." Roland gave a quick bow and just about ran out of the house.

After the sounds of the front door shutting and cars outside driving away, Junior and Yui finally relaxed their stance. Yami also released the breath he didn't know he was holding.

Junior held out the Blue-Eyes card. Both Yui and Grandpa crowded around to look at it. Yami would have joined them if he could have moved. Instead, he saw the female Blue-Eyes walk over to him and curl around the couch, seeming to fall asleep. Dark Magician then sat on the couch's arm to be by Yami. The Pharaoh saw from the side of his eye Dark Magician sneaking glances at Yami's hair. A slight smile on the spirit's face.

Junior then walked over to the couch and sat next to Yami. He gave Yami a quick hair ruffle before showing him the Blue-Eyes card.

"We have it. I thought I signed my death certificate a few times there, but we have it." Junior grinned. Yami was able to return the smile before it suddenly felt like the static within him became denser. The world around his vision began to blur. His family immediately noticed his deterioration and ran to him.

"We'll get Yugi back soon, just hold on," Yui said. Yami nodded to her as he tried to focus on the fact they had the last card.

"How did you convince Kaiba?" Yami managed. Junior didn't meet his or any other of his family's gaze for a few moments. When he looked back, he had a forced smile.

"That contract is getting ended, and I'll be giving Noah back to him the day my vacation ends. That's all he really wanted, and I was happy to give it to him." Junior said.

"It sounds like there's more to it than that," Yui whispered.

Junior tried to give her a reassuring smile, his voice even. "Not really."

Yui was not assured.

Before the others could pry more Junior stood. "Well, he did try to get me to promise a duel with Yami, but I knew that wasn't something I could give him. Anyway, I'll call Pegasus and see if he's anywhere near done," Junior said as he laid the card on Yami's chest. He was about to get up when Grandpa stopped him.

"I would actually like to do it," Grandpa said.

Junior raised an eyebrow. "Really? Do you really want to talk to the guy that stole your soul?"

Grandpa seemed a little uncomfortable but nodded. "You stay with the Pharaoh. I'll be calling Téa for an update."

Junior could only nod as his father went to the next room over. Junior's gaze then landed on the still broken duel disk on the ground. He immediately began cleaning up the mess, ignoring Yui's uncertain glances. "Sorry about breaking this."

"It's fine. I don't think you understand just how much you helped." Yami managed to say.

Junior nodded, but his focus was still on the duel disk. "…Your face after you saw me hurt, that angry look. It just reminded me a bit too much of myself when I was younger…" Junior shook his head as he threw the duel disk in the trash. "That's all in the past. What we need to focus on is getting Yugi and those knights back."

…

Things were going surprisingly well for Silent Magician, Kuriboh, Marshmallon, and Blue-Eyes. Yugi's plan required the creatures of this land to protect the Gandora with their voices before these dragons could help them in return. A tall order to ask of the very monsters the Gandora hurt. Yugi's friends had prepared for severe backlash when asking the spirits to stand by these dragons. And there definitely had been anger and trepidation, but nothing that spiraled out of the four's control.

Blue-Eyes and Marshmallon were respected across the entire dimension. Kuriboh was already pretty much royalty to the tinier monsters. And the thing most convincing to the beasts of this specific domain, Silent Magician had been the domain's protector for countless years. If word from the Pharaoh's host, his spirit partners, and the Mad Builder didn't convince them, it would be the steadfast trust from their Silent that made the most anxious give the plan a shot.

'Now it's just up to the Gandora.' Silent Magician thought as she finished speaking with the Ojama archetype. After the four had gotten the word out to the largest monster population near Dark Magician Girl's castle, they had split up to talk to the more spread-out groups. Thus, why Silent Magician was coming back from the domain's edge.

"_Kurri_!"

Silent Magician jumped when she heard that familiar cry. She turned to see Yugi's Kuriboh, sans jewelry, jump towards her. They looked very bothered by something.

"What is it, buddy?" Silent asked. Kuriboh began to explain in such hurried kurris that even Silent Magician's translator spell had a hard time keeping up. What she did catch was "Silents" and "village." That was all she needed to hear to start rushing off towards her old home—the only fully humanoid settlement in this domain, the Silent Village.

Though the town was rather big to the human-sized monsters that lived there, it was practically dwarfed by the mountain to it's back, and the skyscraper pines that surrounded it. All the town's buildings were made from the dark wood of these trees and grey stone collected from the mountain. In these stones were the odd sprinkling of clear crystal veins. These crystals seemed just as firm as the rocks, so the residences spread these crystals throughout their architecture. The most prominent example of this was in the town center. There, a high bell tower attempted to equal the trees; its bell being made entirely out of this transparent crystal. Under this bell was where the next generation of Silents would appear. Wrapped in the blue and white of the archetype and holding their specific weapon or item.

No Silent had died in many years, leaving the Silent acolytes and low leveled humanoids the only ones living in the town. At this time of day, the main square would usually be filled with a crowd of duel spirits, but today it was dead quiet. As Silent Magician ran through the town, she saw many eyes peeking out from their houses, but no destruction so far. She thanked the stars and continued moving.

At the base of the large bell tower, stood two women monsters. Silent Paladin was staring daggers at Silent Magician, and the hulking Silent Shield Bearer stood to her side with arms crossed. Silent Shield Bearer was the tallest of completely humanoid Silents. Her body-sized shield and heavy plate armor both decked out in blue and white. The only part of her body that could be seen was her head and mane of wild black hair. Her expression always seemed to fall into a growl, and that hadn't changed since Silent Magician last saw her.

Silent Magician stopped in her tracks before the two. She at first wondered how these two got here without activating Yugi's mountain traps, then she remembered their abilities. Silent Paladin could stop the activation of spells, and Silent Shield Bearer could do the same for traps. It was about this moment Silent Magician realized she should have waited for back-up. She had sent Kuriboh to get Blue-Eyes, but she had worried that the Silents were already attacking. She had rushed here to protect the monsters of the village, but this wasn't an attacking force. It didn't even seem to be a scouting unit.

"Magician." Silent Paladin wrote in her pastel green lettering.

Silent Magician waited a few more moments before she braced herself and walked up to the two. There was no trap activation. She still didn't drop her guard as she wrote. "Paladin, Shield Bearer. We weren't expecting you for another twenty minutes. Swordsman did give us two hours."

"So, you aren't handing over the Gandora." Silent Paladin wrote with a soundless sigh.

Silent Shield Bearer grumbled and reached for her shield. Before she could make contact with her soul item, Silent Magician used her magic to push the shield and herself a few paces away from the two. The mage used the few seconds she bought herself to prepare for the next attacks.

But none came.

"Don't start Magician. You are clearly in no state to fight us." Silent Paladin wrote as she leaned her own sword and shield on the tower. Silent Shield Bearer summoned her shield back to her in a flash of orange light and set it on the ground.

This took Silent Magician by surprise, but she still didn't rest from her fighting stance. "I am in perfect condition to duel. Don't you dare underestimate me."

Silent Paladin rolled her eyes. "We can see the way your words flicker. We were also there to see you level-up when you were clearly out of magic. And while I admit, I'm still impressed that you managed to pull off such a feat, I know you must have the Cracks now. How bad is it?" Silent Paladin's face seemed to grow more worried as she wrote, but Silent Magician wouldn't fall for faked concern.

Silent Magician shook her head and summoned her own soul item, her scepter, to her side. She thought about leveling up to her second power state but decided she better save her magic. Her job now was to stall until Blue-Eyes arrived. "It's merely a change in how my magic looks. It doesn't affect my power in any way."

"Your aura looks painful." Silent Shield Bearer said in her deep voice. Silent Magician was surprised to hear Silent Shield Bearer speak. She turned to the taller monster to see if she spoke on accident. "Does it hurt?" Silent Shield Bearer spoke with seemingly legitimate worry.

In the old Silent Society, a powerful Silent purposefully using their voice was a show of putting all their cards on the table. It was a sign of seriously wanting a truce. It would be the expected norm for Silent Magician to respond in her own voice. But then again, in old Silent society, it was also considered the standard that if you didn't agree with another Silent to attempt to kill them. It was simply easier to hope the next reincarnation agreed with you then take the time to argue.

"The cracks that appear with my magic are only a change in aesthetic. Nothing is stopping me from sending you two to the stars." Silent Magician continued to write.

"Please, we need to talk." Silent Paladin also said, her voice strained. "It's about… Swordsman."

This astonished Silent Magician even more. She looked to each and realized the two, though they tried to hide it, were terrified. The image of a young Silent Swordsman flashed in Silent Magician's mind. Specifically, the picture of him attacking her right before she exiled herself.

Silent Magician relaxed her stance. She waited a few more moments for any attack to come, but none did.

"O…K" Silent managed to voice. It sounded warbled and nearly not humanoid. But it would have to do. The two Silents saw how much effort she had to put into using her voice, and their eyes widened. They looked to each other in complete shock, but Silent Paladin quickly got control of herself. She hid any shock and led the three to the other side of the bell tower, away from their weapons. Silent Magician followed, leaving her wand leaning next to Paladin's sword.

On the other side of the bell tower was a decorative ledge for the three to sit. Both Silent Magician and Silent Paladin hopped up, while Silent Shield Bearer remained standing. She leaned against the tower with her arms still crossed.

"What do you want?" Silent Magician wrote.

It was a green lettering that appeared next. "I-We. We want to explain some things."

Silent Magician's eyebrow raised skeptically. "What could you possibly have to explain? You are going to destroy this domain, your old homes, to return an archetype to slavery. All while a lockdown is sucking the lives out of the monsters in the human world."

"No! That's not! I mean…" Paladin's words were shaking. She looked to Silent Shield Bearer for back-up, but the taller monster had none to give. Silent Paladin turned back to Silent Magician and sighed. "We… We never wanted this... We were actually the ones that freed the Gandora, you know."

"You were?! How?" Silent Magician wrote, her words dripping in skepticism.

"We found out about the Gandora's plight when Swordsman managed to get us a job stopping their diseased curse. We originally took it because we needed a way to survive. You don't know how hard it was for us out in the domains after the Legendary Knights took over. We were hated everywhere we went. We couldn't go to any civilization without being chased out, which means we couldn't get food or shelter. We weren't even allowed in some domains!"

"Those domains had every right to do that after all we did as their so-called 'protectors.'" Silent Magician wrote.

"**We know!**" Orange lettering overlapped with green as both Silent Shield Bearer and Silent Paladin wrote.

Silent Magician flinched, waiting for them to attack, but once again, nothing came. The two simply looked away from her in shame.

"It's been a hard-taught lesson, but we know. Every attack and hate thrown at us reinforces that schooling." Silent Paladin then reached out and seemed to pet the air. Soon a nearly invisible, fabric-like substance appeared briefly between her fingers. "Even the barrier doesn't respond to us like it used to."

The three were quiet for many more seconds. During this time, Silent Magician also reached to touch the power that blanketed everything in this world. The barriers were what made the domains, allowed the resets to happen, kept the monster dimension and the human dimension parallel, and let the lockdown continue. The magic responded to her call as it always had, be it be only a small amount. Both other Silents saw this and sighed. Silent Magician got a tiny bit of satisfaction knowing she at least still had a connection to the borders, but that feeling quickly disappeared.

Silent Paladin continued to write. "It's why all of what's left of our archetype is working under Silent Swordsman. He seemed to be the only one with a plan to get us out of our situation. We didn't even want our old jobs back, we just wanted to live."

"Why didn't you come back to the Dominion of the Beasts? Why didn't you try coming home? We would have accepted you-" Silent Magician began.

"With you running things? Ha!" Silent Shield Bearer's letters cut in. "After we all insulted and belittled you when you tried to reach out to us before your exile. Add on... most of us couldn't face Dark Magician Girl or the acolytes that raised us again, after everything we've done... We didn't think it was an option."

Silent Magician hid her eyes by pulling down her hat's rim. She had thought about reaching out to her archetype after they were dethroned by the Knights. But she hadn't. Hoping they would come back on their own.

Silent Paladin shook her head. "We were too proud to come back. But apparently, we weren't proud enough not to take dirty, low-life jobs. Helping the warrior and dragon armies kill each other being our latest.

"It was chance we ended up helping the warrior army and the Gandora. What originally happened was the dragon army hired us to somehow ruin the warrior army and their Gandora they were using to get past the dragon borders. The Dragons were worried that some immunity had grown in the Gandora. We needed a way to support ourselves, so we planned to play both sides. We would be paid for pretending to help with the Gandora's disease and paid for helping the Gandora escape. I think it might have even been that broodmother friend of yours we gave the escape map to."

"Didn't you actually stop the disease?" Silent Magician asked. Gandora had only barely touched on the curse when she retold her life story to her and Yugi.

"Originally, we weren't planning to. But once we got the job and learned more of the Gandora's plight, we really did want to help! We worked tirelessly to break the hex that made that disease, and create the perfect situation for them to escape. The plan was then for the warrior army to play us a little more to catch them. Then we would take the money and run! But… It's gotten all out of hand." Paladin wrote as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Silent Magician found herself shaking her head as she stood. "You expect me to believe that? I was there on the mountain when you tried to capture Gandora. That did not look like an act in the slightest."

"Please." Silent Shield Bearer's words made Silent Magician jump as she turned to her. Shield Bearer continued. "I know how it looks, but we've all been tricked. Tricked by Silent Swordsman."

This immediately got Silent Magician's attention. A swirl of hot and cold emotions filled Silent Magician. They always seemed to confuse her whenever she thought of Silent Swordsman. Two images stayed plastered in her mind. One of the brave and kind Silent Swordsman when he was her closest companion. The other of the crazed fighter on the mountain top about to slash Yugi. Silent Magician buried those feelings quickly and sat back down.

Silent Shield Bearer was the one to speak this time "It began with the lockdown. We had been waiting a month in the Crags for the warriors to cave in and hire us. They had done just that when we all felt the change in the borders. We all knew something was up but thought maybe the Knights were being summoned by their descendants for some new evil.

"Then Silent Swordsman got us together and had us start marching for the Domain of the Beasts. He said it was to make it look like we were going to fulfill our job before turning and going to another domain. Along the way, we heard rumors that a group of dragons was attacking the low-leveled domain. We realized that the Gandora must have been violently settling. Swordsman then changed our plan again. He said we were going to move the Gandora to another dimension by first capturing them. We did still have the anti-Gandora equipment from the warriors. He said it was so our old homes would think of us as heroes. He decided he would keep up the charade of capturing the Gandora for the warrior army in case word traveled to the Crags. We were unsure, but we trusted him to know what was best. So, we went along with it!"

Silent Paladin wrote. "Then things got so much worse when we actually got into the Dominion of the Beasts. Before we broke into the domain through the deactivated portal, we heard your fight with the Broodmother."

Silent Magician stiffened. "What? My fight with Gandora? When I first realized she caused the lockdown…" Silent Magician trailed off in horror.

"Since Swordsman was leading, he heard everything, including how the Knights had been wished away. We only heard bits and pieces. He at first didn't tell us why the lockdown happened. In fact, he didn't tell us anything! He led us into attacking you and the star-blessed Pharaoh! What were we thinking going along with that!?" Silent Paladin both wrote and shouted. She then continued.

"After the whole snafu at the top of the mountain, we were obviously very angry with Swordsman. We didn't sign up for fighting the Pharaoh and a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. But then he distracted us by explaining why the lockdown was continuing. He said he did all this, so we were in the perfect location to end the lockdown as an archetype. At first, we were all excited, we thought this was our chance to fix everything. But we were told to wait. 'It has to be the perfect time.'" Silent Paladin turned her magic a lighter color to show Swordsman's words.

Silent Shield Bearer the added, changing her writing font slightly to match Swordsman's slashy writing. "Not yet, we'll do it soon, though. Oh yeah, I forgot to add I just threatened _Dark Magician Girl_ with destruction in the morning. That way, we can actually get the Gandora back, while making our domain pay for abandoning us. Then we can save the dimension."

Silent Paladin kept angrily writing, even overlapping with Silent Shield Bearer's orange words. "We've been down this path before with the Legendary Knights, and most us Silents refuse to do this! We don't want to be the tyrannical Silents again!" Silent Paladin then yanked Silent Magician's hands forward and clasped them tightly. "Please! We've made a big mistake following Swordsman blindly. Just help us get away from him!"

The two kept writing, but Silent Magician stopped reading their words at this point. She simply stared blankly forward. The worst thing about this situation was she knew this to be something Silent Swordsman would do. He was purposefully putting his own archetype in danger and making their situation worse just so they would have to rely on him. In turn, making him stronger. It caused her heart a familiar pain. He used to do this to her. He would make her so dependent on his strength, she nearly couldn't leave his side. Now he was doing it on a massive scale, with many monsters' lives on the line. The brilliant boy she had grown up with, the one that had protected her so many times, the one she loved so deeply at one point. Even when the rest of his people wanted redemption, he still only wanted power.

Silent Shield Bearer and Silent Paladin stopped their writings mid-sentence when Silent Magician stood, dragging herself out of Paladin's pleading grasp. The mage was suddenly many feet taller. She had slid into her fully grown LV 8 form. She had accidentally done it, her emotions getting the better of her, but she didn't care at that moment.

"Is there anyone else in your group that have the same reservations about Silent Swordsman?" Silent Magician wrote, her words still flickering but now in much thicker, bolder letters.

"Yes, a lot of us do. But at this point, most are too scared to admit it. The ones that still agree with Swordsman follow him fanatically. And the last time we made this big of a mistake, we were forcibly kicked out by the Legendary Knights and reviled by all monsters. We feel like we've fallen too far to come back. You have to help us!"

Silent Shield Bearer added, "Please, do whatever you want with us after. We'll take it, we just don't want this again." Her words were surprisingly weak for her usually steady voice.

Silent Magician didn't write anymore. She was looking out at the buildings of the village surrounding them. Behind window blinds and slightly cracked doors, she saw many monsters moving around. A Silent acolyte got her attention and used the village's sign language to ask if Silent Magician was ok. To the monsters hiding in their houses, it looked like the three had been vehemently arguing for the last ten minutes. Silent Magician's sudden level-up didn't help. In fact, it made it look like a duel was about to start. The acolyte swore they'd all be behind Silent Magician when she attacked.

Silent Magician realized how bad this looked and was about to sign back that everything was ok when a great shadow fell over the bell tower. Before Silent Magician could look up, she was scooped off her feet by Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

The ancient beast's roar reverberated around the town as she shot a blast at the tower. The two Silents managed to leap out of the way, but the tower wasn't so lucky. It began glowing the same white color as Blue-Eyes's attack. Then the earth started to shake as the power was sent into the ground by the crystals—the bell's wild ringing reaching every ear in the village.

"They're attacking!" A monster shouted.

"No, they're here for peace!" Silent Magician wrote. But Blue-Eyes was looking around so frantically for the two scurrying Silents, she didn't read it.

The two Silents tried to find cover amongst the houses but soon found other attacks flying at them. The people of the town had gotten brave under Blue-Eyes's imposing shadow and began defending their village.

"Lying Silents! I knew I could not have expected the courtesy of keeping your word!" Blue-Eyes roared as she dived at the two. Silent Shield Bearer and Silent Paladin summoned their shields in response. Their magic combined together to block Blue-Eye's dive and bounce her back. The two were also frantically writing in the air, but even Silent Magician couldn't read it.

Blue-Eyes's roar continued. "You think attacking early will help you?! It has only turned the domain more against you!"

"Get out of here!" The monsters began yelling as they came out of their houses, throwing rocks and various smaller attacks at the two.

"You shouldn't have returned here!"

"Come back in a new life!"

The two Silents looked to each other, then hopelessly to Silent Magician. Silent Magician saw it in their eyes, they had been on the receiving end of this kind of hate too many times before.

Silent Paladin's eyes glowed, and in a flash of green light, a tiny feathered Silent appeared above the two.

"Have you finally cleared out all the traps…? Oh, my stars!" Silent Messenger squawked as she flapped wildly in the air. She didn't need to look twice at the enraged mob headed by a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. She activated her ability without a second thought. Silent Messenger could return other monsters to the deck, or in this case, to the mountaintop. In a flurry of magically charged feathers, Silent Paladin and Silent Shield Bearer were gone. Before anyone could react, Silent Messenger disappeared too in another flash of pastel green light. Silent Paladin must have activated her ability to summon other Silents to her side once she was on the mountaintop.

The villagers began sweeping through the square, trying to find other Silents as Blue-Eyes finally landed.

"Good thing I came when I did, you were nearly-" Blue-Eyes was cut off as Silent Magician jumped out of her claws and slapped her in the snout. Blue-Eyes reared back. But before either could chew the other out, a massive flash of light broke through the clouds covering the mountaintop. It was only there for a split second, but everyone in the domain saw it. It was the Silents' protective bubble, finally popping.

"The Silents are coming," Blue-Eyes growled.

"And Yugi's plan isn't going to work." Silent Magician wrote in small lettering. Of course, it was only then Blue-Eyes took the time to read it.

"What do you mean?" The dragon asked.

"Yugi's hoping that if all the inhabitants come together to defend the Gandora, that it won't be worth it to the Silents to attack. But that's working under the assumption that these are only mercenaries doing a job. It's not. At least, not anymore. This is personal to Silent Swordsman."


End file.
